Good morning.
The Lord says he came to light a fire and wishes it were already burning. Today the Church remembers a pope who began his ministry on this date with the opposite of fear.
St. John Paul II, Pope (optional memorial)
Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920. On October 16, 1978, he was elected Pope, and on October 22 he began his ministry as universal Pastor of the Church. The Church keeps his memorial on that day.
His homily at that Mass is where the line comes from: "Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ." He asked that Christ's saving power be let into the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, and the fields of culture and civilization. He died in the Apostolic Palace at 9:37 p.m. on April 2, 2005, the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, which he had instituted. Benedict XVI beatified him on May 1, 2011, and the Church canonized him, with John XXIII, on April 27, 2014.
Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: "I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled? And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished? Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation. For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." — Luke 12:49-53
The Latin of the first line is Ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur?
The first reading is Paul on his knees. Ephesians 3:19 says what he prays for: "To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God."
The English Catena Aurea prints no commentary on these five verses, so here is Theophylact on the ones that follow, where the same saying comes back. "I came also to send fire, that is, to stir up heat. For I am the strong south wind, opposed to the northern coldness." And on the peace he did not come to give: "You may therefore suppose that I came not to give peace, but the storm and whirlwind."
The full readings are on USCCB.org.
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102226.cfm →
Catechism* 696 reads the fire: "fire symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's actions." It goes through Elijah on Mount Carmel and John the Baptist, then the Lord himself: "Jesus will say of the Spirit: 'I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!'" And it ends at Pentecost, when the Spirit rests on the disciples *"in the form of tongues 'as of fire.'"
Wednesday's close: SPY $773.13, +0.5% · Nasdaq 100 +1.1% · Russell 2000 +0.2% · tape BULL, regime choppy · new longs still paused by the two-loss warning
Wednesday opened higher and held it. The S&P 500 fund gapped up 0.3% to $771.20, dipped to a low of $768.41, reached a high of $774.41, and closed at $773.13, up 0.5%. That is 0.8% below the six-month closing high of $779.10 set October 6. The Nasdaq 100 fund gapped up 0.7% at the open and closed at $725.25, up 1.1%. The Russell 2000 fund rose 0.2% and the equal-weight S&P 500 fund 0.3%. Seven of the eleven sector funds rose: technology led at +1.7%, then industrials at +0.9%. Communication services was the weakest at −1.1%.
The two-loss warning is still on: the system takes no new long until SPY closes above $779.37, and Wednesday's close was $6.24 short of it, 0.8% below. The tape turns, and the system sells every long, only on a SPY close below $629.29. By our own count, 5 of the last 25 sessions are distribution days for the S&P 500 fund and 7 for the Nasdaq 100 fund. The scanner's list holds twenty-five names at or near their 52-week pivots, and none triggered.
The house account holds no stock positions today, and no orders were placed Wednesday. The seven puts cost $18,426 and were worth $20,196 on Alpaca's marks, up 9.6%, which is what insurance costs while the market rises. The idle-cash sleeve is in commodities (DBC) and short-term Treasuries (SHY).
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The week ahead, per the USCCB daily readings calendar for the United States:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
In Christ,
Jonathan Simmons
Enoch Capital LLC
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