Better here than there

February 15, 2010

Peace and Good,

I'm still in San Diego, on the third week of a three week stint. This past week I have been listening to the weather channel almost non-stop and calling the friars to see how they were doing in Ellicott City. Their snow reminds me of the snows that I experienced growing up in Buffalo. In fact, the weather channel was using the comparison that there was more snow in Baltimore than in Buffalo. Incredible.

This past week I was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Lakeside. This is on the east side of San Diego County, and it is a rural area with a lot of horse farms. Something about the area and the lake reminded me of Reno. (I often have these feeling as I am travelling from place to place.)

The theme of the mission was basic conversion, making Christ the center of our lives. Monday was spent talking about our addictions (attitudes, activities, possessions) that get us into trouble because they become too important for us. Tuesday was on the dignity to which Christ calls us, for we are given the responsibility to help transform the world in his image through our prayer and also we are called to serve the broken to show his love to them. Wednesday (which was the healing service), I talked about suffering. Thursday the theme was the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. There was a good crowd both in the morning and the evening.

I finished a series of CD's from the teaching company called the Classics of Russian Literature by Irwin Weil. This was 36 half-hour lectures. I have been listening to them as I take my daily walk (c. 45 minutes). The series was very good, and it introduced me to a whole different world of thought. I am in to Russian literature and history lately, and this gave me a great overview.

I also finished a book entitles The Activist: John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, and the Myth of Juridical Review by Lawrence Goldstone. We all know that the Supreme Court can declare a law unconstitutional. Yet, that power can not be found in the actual constitution. It comes from a decision made by the Supreme Court in its early years. The author explains how the decision came about in a difficult period of politics in America (the Federalists had been defeated and the Jeffersonians had taken power, the first transfer of power to another political party in America). We speak of activist judges, etc., yet even one of the most literal interpreters of the constitution, Judge Scalia, recognizes that the Supreme Court needed this power. It is a good study, although occasionally it gets a bit heavy with legal terms.

Here is my coming schedule:

02/20/10 - 02/25/10 - St. Aloysius, Leonardtown, MD 20650 p.o.c. Fr. John T. Drakes (Parish Mission)

02/27/10 - 03/04/10 - St. Thomas More, Oceanside, CA 92056 p.o.c. Kathleen Bell (Parish Mission)

03/06/10 - 03/10/10 - Our Lady of Mercy, Harborcreek, PA 16421 p.o.c. Rev. Gerald Ritchie/Donna Clark (Parish Mission)

03/13/10 - 03/17/10 - St. Joseph, Pomfret, MD 20675 p.o.c. Fr. Mark Smith/Ron Weaver (Parish Mission)

03/19/10 - 03/25/10 - St. Lucie, Port St. Lucie, FL 34983 p.o.c. Fr. Mark Szanyi (Parish Mission)

03/29/10 - Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. p.o.c. Kathleen Noel (Talk)

03/30/10 - St. Louis Catholic Church, Clarksville, MD p.o.c. Mike Leumas (Knights of Columbus Talk)

04/01/10 - 04/04/10 - Bon Secours Retreat Center, Marriottsville, MD p.o.c. Lynn Lieberman (Triduum Retreat)

04/05/10 - 04/10/10 - Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, Hamburg, NY 14075 p.o.c. Sr. Joyce Kubiniec (Retreat)

04/11/10 - 04/16/10 - Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hamburg, NY (Provincial Chapter)

04/17/10 - 06/12/10 - International House of Franciscan Studies, Canterbury, England, U.K.

God bless and
Shalom
fr. Jude