Chicago - Ellicott City, MD

May 19, 2018 Peace and Good, I finished up the chapter in Chicago and flew into Baltimore. Monday, a week and a half ago, I had a little medical procedure - an umbilical hernia repair. It was no biggie - just a one hour operation on an out patient basis. Yet, I have been laying low to recover. I can't say that I have suffered much pain from it. It was much more discomfort and I described myself as being a bit tender. I visited the doctor on Thursday and everything is on the mend. I wanted to have this done here in the States, because a danger of this type of problem is that the intestines could become strangulated and part of them could die. That is the last thing I wanted to happen when I am visiting some distant site where medical care could be a bit dicey. The surgeon and his staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. It was a very good experience. A good side benefit of this was that I have been staying in one site for a couple of weeks running. The friars at Ellicott City are always most hospitable to me. It feels like home. Also, for the first time in a few months, my sleeping patterns are beginning to return to normal. With all the jet lag from which I am always suffering, this is a real benefit. I finished some reading: Extra Virginity by Tom Mueller This is a very well researched and written book on the market for extra virgin olive oil. It speaks of the history of its use in diet, religion, medicine, etc. Yet, a great percentage of what is marketed as extra virgin (the highest quality of olive oil) is really doctored and of a much lesser quality. The author speaks of the value of extra virgin as an anti-oxidant, but how that value is lost when the oil is not extra virgin. Extra virgin has to be cold pressed, not treated with chemicals, carefully stored. There is even the scandal of some olive oil that is not even olive oil, but is some lesser form of oil (seeds, nuts, etc.). Begin Cutting by Gauray Raj Telhan Part of the training of physicians is the disection of a cadavar. The author speaks of his experience and how he tried to find out the identity of the person whom he disected. It was a difficult, nervous experience. Yet, he is trying to treat that person with the dignity that she deserved. It is really quite a good essay on the competing sensations in a situation of this type. Blasphemy by Douglas Preston I have read a number of books in which Douglas Preston collaborated with Lincoln Child. This was a book he wrote on his own. It is really quite good. It speaks of a scientific team that is running a super-collider in New Mexico in order to approximate conditions at the time of the big bang. The project is opposed by some Native Americans from the reservation on which the project is taking place, as well as by a teleevangelist and his minions because they accuse the team of trying to disprove the word of God (creation). The project runs into serious glitches on its own, and the turns and twists of the action take surprising and tragic directions. Hiding from Animals by Helen MacDonald This is a short essay on the practice of hiding in animal blinds either to observe their activity or to hunt for them. It deals with the almost voyeauristic tendency of those involved in this activity. Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore This is a long treatment of the history of the city of Jerusalem from its earliest days up to the time of the Six Day War. Montefiore comes from a famous English family which has sponsored a number of charitible activities in Jerusalem. The author tries not to take sides in the various disputes throughout history. Nevertheless, the author being Jewish, there was a slight tendency to pay more attention to that group than to others. What was a bit disappointing is the occasional inaccuracies in the accounts of what was going on (either from an archaeological point of view or from the point of view of the description of religious activities). 1968: the Year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky 1968 was a year of riots and rebellions all throughout the world. Mark Kurlansky deals with many of the activities of that year (the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the campus occupations in the US, the Chicago Democratic Convention, the French student rebellions, the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact, the student demonstrations in Poland, etc.). He does a creditable job of describing the origins and activities of the various movements, as well as their eventual successes or failures. Kurlansky has written a series of books on individual topics (salt, cod, paper, etc.). This book uses the talent to focus in on a singular topic to deal with a particular year instead of a particular topic. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman Like all of Hillerman’s books, this one takes place on the Navaho reservation in the Southwest. It involves the tribal police, but its main focus is on a couple of unexplained murders and some unusual activities that have native Americans thinking that there is an outbreak of witchcraft. The blessing way is a ceremony to protect those involved from those evil forces. All of Hillerman’s books are well done and interesting. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory This is the story of the mother of King Henry VII of England. She always pictured herself as a holy woman of God, but she comes across in the story as self-righteous. She places in the mouth of God whatever she wants to see, especially the furtherance of her own families rights. Above all, she wanted her son to be king, or one might say, she wanted herself to become the queen mother. I am not sure that Margaret Beaufort was really that selfish and self-righteous, but that is the way she comes across in this account. Liberty by Stephen Coonts This is a story about Islamic terrorists who buy four nuclear bombs from a Russian general and who intend to attack major targets in the US. A band of investigators appointed by the President manages to sort out where the bombs are, one of which is hidden in the Statue of Liberty. The story is action packed, and is actually quite good. Rising Sun by Michael Crichton This is the story of an investigation of the murder of a woman (prostitute) during rought sex in a skyscraper owned by a major Japanese company. The two investigators assigned are one man who is new on the intercultural unit and one who has long worked with the Japanese. There are twists upon twists in the story. I have read a number of more scientific or medical books by Crichton, and I didn’t feel that this was his best work. It got a bit too preachy concerning the relationship between Japanese businesses and the US government. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Castro Valley, CA - Mt. St. Francis, IN - Ellicott City, MD - Buffalo, NY - Chicago, IL

May 30, 2018 Peace and Good, Sorry I have not written anything lately, but this month has been constant movement. I have been at the various provincial chapters of the four US provinces. I am now in Chicago for the last of the chapters. After this, I will be getting some time off in Ellicott City, MD before I start the circuit again for the various chapters. These weeks have gone quite well. Until this past Thursday, I have been with the Minister General. Thursday he flew back to Rome to get ready for a two week trip to Russia. Yesterday the Vicar General arrived and he will be in charge of the chapter this week. This week is the chapter for St. Bonaventure Province centered in Chicago. The weather is turning nice, after having been quite cool for the past couple of weeks. Flights have been good and on time. I like flying with Southwest. There is always a good spirit among the crew and even those flying. Security has not been bad at the airports. Ever since the TSA agent was killed in LA, I make it a point to go back and thank the TSA agents for keeping us safe. They really seem to appreciate it. I am sure that they face a lot of griping all day long. I have finished some books: Spy by Ted Bell This is the story of a plot by jihadists and South American terrorists to attack the United States. The hero is a British Lord who is incredibly rich, and he leads an attack on the evil forces. The problem in this book is that the author presents a quite racist view of the people who cross the Mexican-US border to seek refuge (either political or economic) in the US. The premise of the story is quite unrealistic and the story is not all that well put together. Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts its Legacy as the Largest Salve-Trading Dynasty in US History by Thomas DeWolf This is a very interesting project by an extended family that realizes that one of their ancestors was a slave trader. They travel to his home town in Rhode Island, then Ghana where the slaves were bought, and then Cuba where they often worked on the sugar plantations. Parts of the book sound like a travellogue, but then the author becomes reflective about different form of oppression which we still see in our society today. That part of the book is excellent and served as a great reflection for me. The History of Ancient Egypt by Prof. Bob Brier This is a rather long series on ancient Egypt from prehistoric times to the death of Cleopatra. The professor is quite entertaining and informative. I found his lectures excellent, but there are 48 of them so that this is quite a commitment. I would highly recommend this particular series from the Teaching Company. The Marlboro Men of Chernivtsi by Andrew Jones This is an essay on how people in Ukraine and Kaliningrad smuggle cigarettes into Europe to profit on the price differential and the lack of taxes. The author speaks of taking a bus across the Romanian border with women who have packed tons of illegal cigarettes all over their bodies. It is quite good. Attack of the Killer Beetles by Maddie Oatman This is a scientific essay on beetles that have infested pine forests all through the West of the United States. An ecologist argues that maybe it is good to let them have their way, even though they are killing many trees, for they are sorting out those trees which have the strongest genetic makeup. This is contrary to government tendency to thin forests which does not seem to be all that successful. The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb This is the story of a group of Norwegian freedom fighters during World War II who first of all sabatoge the factory where heavy water is being manufactured, and then later sink a ferry which has most of the available supply on its way to Germany. Heavy water was used in nuclear research, so its destruction put the atomic research in wartime Germany way behind schedule, which proved to be a God sent in this war. The Black Widow by Daniel Silva I very much like Silva’s books about the fight between the Mossad (Israeli secret service) and terrorist groups. This one is a battle against the forces of recent Muslim terrorists. I liked most of the book, but at a certain point the author almost makes the survival on one Israeli agent as more important than the death of hundreds of American civilians. I found I was quite offended by this tendency. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Arroyo Grande, CA - Castro Valley, CA

April 9, 2018 Peace and Good, I have been in California since last Monday. This past week I presented a workshop to our seven novices for the States. I really enjoyed working with them. We had about three and a half hours of presentation a day from Tuesday until Friday. Yesterday, Sunday, I drove up from there to Castro Valley which is just outside of Oakland for the Provincial Chapter which begins this evening. It will go on through Thursday. On Friday, the Minister General, fr. Benedict Baek (the Asian Assistant General) and I will head back down to Arroyo Grande to visit the novices. Then off to Louisville for the next provincial chapter, this one of Our Lady of Consolation Province. I finished some reading: Day of Judgment by Jack Higgins Most of Higgins’ books are about spies, but this one has to do with the Berlin Wall and the attempt to smuggle refugees through the wall. It is rather well written, as are most of Higgins’ books. The action takes place in the early 1960’s with President Kennedy involved in the drama. He also includes some Catholic and Lutheran religious figures in quite a favorable light. Assassin by Ted Bell A large number of American diplomats are assassinated within a short period of time. A group of investigators tried to get to the bottom of the threat. They come up with an Arab leader who has sponsored a group of women assassins who are about to commit a major act of terror. The personifications in the book are a little weak, and I considered the narator (for I listened to this book) to be rather racist in his characterization. A Murder of Quality by John le Carre This is one of le Carre’s first books. It is about a murder in a university town in Great Britain. The wife of a tutor is killed, and George Smiley, the spy in many of le Carre’s books, is asked by a friend to investigate it a bit since the woman was a faithful contributor to a religious newspaper. Smiley discovers that the woman was not what she wanted others to think she was, and Smiley has to journey through a complicated set of details to get to the truth. The Copper Bracelet by Jeffrey Deaver et al This is an experiment in which each chapter of this thriller is written by a different famous author. There is no problem with continuity, but it is one of those books that probably tries to do a bit too much. It resembles one of those Russian dolls which are egg shaped, with one inside the other, inside the other, etc. The authors try to establish a complicated structure of a plot within a plot, etc. The heroes of the story are a bit too heroic. The whole thing comes across a bit unbelievable. The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a Pandemic Age by Nathan Wolfe This is the story of possible pandemics which could strike the world either through natural or through terrorist means. The author is a scientist himself who has worked to predict and react to various pandemics and other dangers. The author speaks about possible future dangers by showing how past dangers could be repeated. He gives a good amount of scientific knowledge in the course of his narratives. It is quite informative and well written. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Monte Argintario - Rome - Assisi - Rome -Arroyo Grande (CA)

April 4, 2018 Peace and Good, A Happy Easter to all. I finished the retreat in Monte Argintario and we travelled to Rome for the Triduum. Good Friday I had to take a quick trip up to Assisi for a couple of meeting with our English novices and their Novice Director. The three novices from the custody of Great Britain/Ireland are in Assisi for the year, and I went up to see how things were going. The Easter Vigil was well done this year. It lasted about two and a half hours, but everything was well organized. The Exultet was sung with guitar accompagnment, and it was really beautiful. We had a baptism and confirmation of an adult during the Mass. On Easter Monday I flew to California to give a workshop to our novices in Arroyo Grande. I flew from Rome to Munich, then to San Francisco, and then finally on to San Luis Obispo. When I got into Munich I saw that the connection to San Francisco was going to be three hours late. San Francisco is a large and somewhat complicated airport, and I thought I would never make the connection. The United Airline representative was on the jetway and gave me a coupon to get an expedited passport control. The security people let me take a fast track on security. Someone, both I and my luggage made the flight. When I got to the gate for the San Luis Obispo flight, it was already boarded, and the man checking the tickets even said that they never expected me to make the connection. I finished some reading: Poland by James Michener This is typical of Michener’s books – it is enormous. It gives stories about people all throughout the history of Poland, with the largest section dedicated to the Nazi period. It is very well written, and it gives a good insight into the Polish personality – a grandiose hopeful people who are generous in their service to their nation. I would always recommend Michener’s books as long as you have the time to read them. 1924: The Year that Made Hitler by Peter Ross Range This is an account of the events of 1923 and 1924 in the life of Adolph Hitler. In 1923 he organized the Beer Hall Puntch, and then in 1924 he was tried and imprisoned. He used his imprisonment to write his infamous memoir Mein Kampf. The Beer Hall Punch comes across as a comic opera rebellion, but Hitler used the subsequent trial as a stage to publicize his theories. It didn’t help that the judge and the whole judicial system of Bavaria were most sympathetic to the rightist movement. They treated Hitler with kid gloves, and released him long before he should have been (in clear contrast with how they treated Communists or Socialists). The book is good. The Cossacks: The History and Legacy of the Legendary Slavic Warriors by Charles River Editors This is a short account of the Cossacks, a group of ex-slaves and ex-serfs who escaped to the plains of southern Ukraine to produce a new people who were famous for the warlike disposition. They were often used by the Czars to put down rebellions with extreme violence. They were strong defenders of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Communists hated and did not trust them, and persecuted them throughout their regime. Stalin, for example, deported many of them to the Muslim republics during World War II. The account is well done. The Freemasons: the history of Freemasonry and the world’s most famous secret society by Charles River Editors I very much enjoy most of Charles River Editors, but this one is an exception. The scholarship in the book is very poor, and come across much more as a book of propaganda in favor of the Masons. The author takes all sort of founding legends proposed by the Masons and accepts them uncritically. I would not recommend this book at all. The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory This is the story of Margaret Pole, one of the last of the Plantaganets during the days of Henry VIII. She and her family opposed the reforms of Henry in regard to the Church, and she was executed late in her life for supposed rebellion. Philippa Gregory tries to portray a very favorable picture of Margaret Pole and I am not sure that she was quite as innocent as she would protray her. Nevertheless, Gregory does show the decline in the mental balance of the king and the murderous consequences of this. Midnight by Dean Koontz This is a horror story of a scientific genius who has created a type of nanotube that programs people to be a “higher race.” The problem lies both with the definition of what a higher race might be. To that scientist, it meant a lack of emotion as well as incredible healing power. Unfortunately, the nanotubes also give people the possibility of regressing to a lower form of humanity – becoming savage beasts that kill others. An FBI agent, a sister of a murder victim and a young girl who is running away from her now savage parents team up with a terribly wounded Vietnam veteran to fight this plague. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Foligno - Rome - Oxford - Walsingham - Rome - Assisi - Monte Argintario

March 26, 2018 Peace and Good, After I finished preaching the retreat in Foligno (which I think went quite well), I went back to Rome to change clothes in my suitacse and then fly out to London and take the train up to Oxford. There was a snow storm (not too bad) when I arrived. I was going to our House of Studies to meet the Minister General and the students. We all went on pilgrimage to Walsingham on Monday and Tuesday. Walsingham in an old pilgrimage site (1061). All the English monarchs from that time to Henry VIII visited it on pilgrimage. It is a Marian site. Henry had it destroyed, but the Anglicans and Catholics built new shrines there in the last century. The Monseignor in charge of the Catholic site has asked the friars to come there to serve the pastoral needs of the pilgrims. There are a lot of them. There has been a parish or diocesan pilgrimage there every day since New Year's Day save one day. We were very pleased with our visit. There is a great future for the friars there. We had been there for two centuries before its destruction, and now we are back. We had a definitory meeting on Saturday that went most of the day. Then on Sunday we drove up to Assisi for a short meeting. I will have to head back there on Friday for part two of that meeting. Then from there we drove to Monte Argintario which is on a mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean. It is right down the coast from the place where the cruise ship sank a couple of years ago. We are here on retreat until Thursday when we head back to Rome The weather is still quite cold, unseasonable for this time of the year. Hopefully it will warm up a bit later this week. I finished some reading: Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon Leon is one of my favorite authors. All of the other books that I have read so far were about Commissario Brunetti, an investigator from Venice, Italy. This one takes place in Venice as well, but there is no detective. There is a musicologist who has been hired to investigate two trunks left by a 16th century bishop who was also a composer. She must try to find out who the true heir of these trunks is (and who might inherit what had been called the jewels of paradise (a treasure that has to be defined in the course of the book). This book is excellent. SPQR by Mary Beard This is a masterful history of the Roman Empire from the founding of the city up to the date in the 200’s when all the people of the empire were declared to be Roman citizens. Mary Beard teaches in England and her presentation is good, entertaining and highly informative. She does not get caught up on dates and names, but gives a good overview of the various periods of Roman history. Some of her theories have been questioned, but I find what she says highly believable. The Foreign Spell by Pico Iyer This is a short essay about how the very foreignness of places where tourists visit is often the poison that destroys their distinctiveness. The resorts tend to be built up in these places, but then the resorts must cater to the whims of their clients who demand home town comforts while they are visiting exotic locales, destroying the very thing which they came to experience. Sarah Maslin Nir Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers This is an essay that speaks about the dangers that are faced by women who work in nail polishing enterprises. These institutions and the chemicals they used are not regulated very much. There are studies which were sponsored by the companies that make those chemicals which declare that everything is safe, but anecdotal evidence of children stillborn or handicapped, miscarriages, infertility, etc is quite convincing. Emma Marris Return of the Wild This essay speaks about the return of wolves to California. They have been reintroduced to neighboring states, but there was some question of whether wolves ever existed in California at all. It seems as if the first anglos to arrive in the state were uniquely successful in wiping them out. As of now, there are no wolves actually dwelling there, but that will probably soon change since there is ample territory in which they tend to thrive and there has been evidence of wolves visiting the land for periods of time. Have a good Holy Week. Shalom fr. Jude

San Diego - Rome - Foligno

March 14, 2018 Peace and Good, Last Thursday I flew back to Rome from San Diego via London. It was a long, long trip - 12 hours to London and another 2 1/2 hours from there to Rome. On Sunday I came by train to Foligno which is the next city over from Assisi. I am here to give a retreat to a group of friars from the new Central Italian province. We are in a retreat house just up the street from the city, which has about 450,000 inhabitants. It is a beautiful area in Umbria with olive groves and old stone houses just under us. The weather has been iffy. We ended up with a sleet storm yesterday which covered the ground with an inch of sleet. Today is mostly sunny and quite nice. The retreat is going well. I will be here until Saturday morning when I head down to Rome to change my clothes and head off to the airport for a plane to London to take another train up to Oxford where I will join the Minister General who has been there for a week or so now refreshing his English. I have finished some reading: A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson This is the story of a Canadian genius who developed the British secret service at the beginning of World War II. Much of the book details his often frustrated attempt to deal with the Americans. He got along quite well with Bill Donavan, the founder of the OSS, the predecesor of our CIA. He did not get along that well with J. Edgar Hoover who wanted the FBI to control all of the intelligence efforts both inside and outside of the country. Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army by Charles River Editor Joseph Kony is a strange figure (one of many) who developed a resistance movement in the north of Uganda. This area of the country is a bit of a disaster due to the way in which colonial masters divided up countries in Africa, often splitting one tribe between two different countries. The Acoli minority in the north was persecuted by various dictators, so they were rife for rebellion. Kony, however, killed more of his own people in the rebellion than outsiders, and he often kidnapped young children to become his soldiers. He is still being hunted by authories for all the atrocities that his soldiers have commiteed over the years. The Great Hurricane of 1938 by Cherie Burns This hurrican hit Long Island and New England before the naming of hurricanes and before the development of means of predicting their strength and movement. It hit in September and many, many people were killed in the flooding that resulted from the storm surge which was tremendous and unexpected. One of the people who was endangered during the storm was Katherine Hepburn. The disaster led to an upgrading of the system of prediction and the means with which the weather bureau communicated the warnings to the people in the path of future storms. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson This is the combination of the story of the invention of the wireless by Enrico Marconi and the capture of a man and his girlfriend who had run away to Canada after the murder of the man’s wife. (The girlfriend seems not to have been involved in the caper.) The combination is important for the man was captured through the use of Marconi’s new invention, and this episode gave great credibility to it and made it a success (something that was not previously guaranteed due to difficulties in the process that Marconi encountered and a number of industrial and scientific enemies that he made over the years.) 1861 by Adam Goodheart This book is about the coming of the Civil War. I have read many books about this era, but this is by far the best that I have seen. I contains details about which I had never heard before. It tells stories of individuals and how their lives and at times their deaths affected the country. The author gives a good and balanced analysis on the situation. I would highly, highly recommend this book to anyone interested in US history. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

San Diego

March 7, 2018 Peace and Good, I have been in San Diego this past ten days for a parish mission in Sacred Heart Parish in Coronado. The topic of the mission was a preparation for the events and spirituality of Holy Week. We had a great turnout, and many, many confessions. I was very pleased with how it went. It is a very active parish. I intend to write an article for the Messenger magazine in Padua on their outreach to married couples and families, to the divorced, to the hispanics, etc. They are taking very seriously the Pope's call to be a sign of mercy and welcome. On Friday I gave a workshop on the Passion Narratives at the Pastoral Center to priests and deacons. We had about 30 show up. That, too, went very well. These past few days I have tried to slow down a bit, but also finish one project (editing next year's Proclaimers' Workbook). This evening I fly back to Rome and next week I am giving a retreat to friars from the Central Italian Province. This province is made up of five earlier provinces that joined together this past year. The weather here was cool when I first arrived, but these past few days have been wonderful. I feel guilty watching the weather channel and what is happening on the East Coast. I finished some reading: Rebbe by Joseph Telushkin This is the biography of the seventh Rebbe who led the Lubavitcher Hassidic Jews. Many of his followers believe that he could be the Messiah (although they tended to give various descriptions of what that might be. Telushkin is the author of a book of Jewish humor that I had previously read and enjoyed. It is obvious that he is highly devoted to this great figure. The Rebbe (this is the title with which he was identified) led his community through the traumatic post-war period, living in New York. He reached out to all varieties of Jews to bring them back to a practice of their faith. He sent young missionaries all throughout the world so that there might be representatives of Judaism to be an anchor for those Jews who wised to practice their faith. Yet, he strongly opposed Judaism or compromise in the Middle East. While he obviously was a great figure, Telushkin works a bit to much to excuse his obvious shortfalls. The Pirates of Barbary by Adrian Tenniswood This is an overview of the struggle of the English to deal with the threat of the Barbary Muslim Pirates during the 17th century. Many of the pirates were actually Europeans who had been captured and turned coats to become Muslim themselves. They attacked not only ships in the Mediterranean, but also raided the coasts of France, Italy, Spain, and even England and Ireland. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis I have always wanted to read this Christian classic. It is filled with symbolism, and it deals with the choice one must make to embrace the joy and love of heaven. It contrasts that pure love with all the partial loves we so often experience upon this earth. I am not sure I like a lot of the symbolism that Lewis uses, but that has been true of many of the books I have read by this author. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King I very much like the writing style of King. I read his books not for the horror tales that he often presents, but for his choice of vocabulary and grammar. This volume is the first in a three part series. It deals with a mass murderer who drives a mercedes car into a crowd gathered to enter a jobs fair. There is a retired policeman who investigates this figure along with a young woman with various psycyological difficulties and a young African American boy who is a genius on the computer. I very much enjoyed this book. Edith Stein: Philosopher, Mystic, Martyr, Feminist by Alex Terego This is one of a series of short book on heroic or important Catholic figures. It gives a short biography of Edith Stein and a bit of her teaching. These short of books wet my apetite to read more about people like this. Marco Polo by John Man This is an account both of the travels of Marco Polo and his family and of the author’s trip in the footsteps of Marco Polo. The author gives a good account, and he tries to investigate the various controversies concerning the historicity of Marco Polo’s account. He speaks of the production of the account of his travels, as well as the consequences of his account upon subsequest exploration, including that of Christopher Columbus. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude