Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Leaving on a Jet Plane

April 27, 2010

Peace and Good,

Well, if all goes well, I will finally be leaving for London tonight. Actually, these days home at Ellicott City have been great. I have been out on the road almost continuously since January, and this gave me a chance to be with my own community for a little more than a week.

I also got caught up on daily reflections. I am now finished through the end of June. That means I can turn to some of my writing projects and get some work done on them.

I will be teaching two courses at Canterbury. One is an intro to the New Testament, and the other an overview of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and the Acts of the Apostles.

I finished one book this week: The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity: 1812-1822 by Harold Nicolson. This was a period of history that I always wanted to know about. I remember answering a question on my Regents Exam in High School about the Congress of Vienna. It occurred when Napoleon was defeated, and it was highly reactionary. The ogre/genius at the congress was the Austrian Foreign Minister named Metternich. He restored monarchies in all those countries that had become republics, forbade the formation of an independent Poland, etc. The book gives a good overview of the period, but it was heavy reading.

My schedule for the next months is:

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

06/13/10 - 06/18/10 - Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hamburg, NY (Provincial Retreat)

06/19/10 - 07/01/10 - St. Victor's Major Seminary, Tamale, Ghana, West Africa p.o.c. Fr. David Azambawu(Seminarian Retreat)

07/04/10 - 07/10/10 - St. Francis Convent, Mishawaka, IN 46546 p.o.c. Sr. M. Dorothy

07/11/10 - 07/18/10 - Quellen Spiritual Center, Mendham, NJ 07945 p.o.c. Sr. Teresa Marie (Sisters' Retreat)

God bless and

Shalom

fr. Jude

Thursday, April 22, 2010

A Funny Thing Happened to me on the Way to Canterbury

April 22, 22010

Peace and Good,

Last week I was in Buffalo for our Provincial Chapter. A chapter is a gathering of the friars every four years to take stock of where we are and where we would like to go. We gathered along with the friars of the other eastern province because we had to make an important decision, whether the two provinces would join. My province is St. Anthony's Province and it was founded to serve Polish immigrants. The other province is Immaculate Conception Province and they served the Irish, Germans, and Slovaks. We overlap on the east coast. We voted overwhelmingly to unite in 2014. It is a good thing. It will bring up the numbers up to over 200, and it will give us the opportunity to look at our religious lives and ask whether they need some adjustment.

I was very impressed at the spirit of the friars. This was a difficult decision, and we tried to do it in a spirit of prayer and response to the promptings of the Spirit. Once could sense an openness on the part of the friars. That is what our lives are supposed to be all about. St. Francis even wanted to declare the Holy Spirit the Minister General of our order, because the Spirit should be the guide of all of our actions (ministerial, personal, spiritual, etc.)

This week, I was supposed to be in Canterbury beginning my courses, and then came the volcano. I am finally booked to fly out next Tuesday, God willing. It actually worked out well for me, for I have been on the road extensively this past Spring, as you have read. This gave me nine days at home.

I finished one CD series: The Catholic Church: A History by William Cook. This was a course from the teaching company, 36 lectures. Cook was excellent, honest and fair in his presentation of the history of the Church. It was not that there was so much new that I learned, but it is always good to go over it once in a while to review the details.

My coming schedule is:

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

06/13/10 - 06/18/10 - Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hamburg, NY (Provincial Retreat)

06/19/10 - 07/01/10 - St. Victor's Major Seminary, Tamale, Ghana, West Africa p.o.c. Fr. David Azambawu(Seminarian Retreat)

07/04/10 - 07/10/10 - St. Francis Convent, Mishawaka, IN 46546 p.o.c. Sr. M. Dorothy

07/11/10 - 07/18/10 - Quellen Spiritual Center, Mendham, NJ 07945 p.o.c. Sr. Teresa Marie (Sisters' Retreat)

God bless and

Shalom

fr. Jude

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Easter Week with the Psalms

April 14, 2010

Peace and Good,

This past week I was in Hamburg, New York, my home town. I was giving a retreat to a group of Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, the group of sisters who taught me when I was in grammar school. What a privilege to return a little to the sisters who gave me so much while I was growing up. In fact, one of the sisters on the retreat was Sister Vincentia, my 5th and 6th grade teacher who was largely responsible for my vocation.

I had the privilege of studying sacred scripture when I was in Rome for my theology studies. One of the courses that I took was on the psalms. We as religious pray them every day, but so few of us had the opportunity to study their symbolism and meaning. I was able to share some of that with the sisters.

This week I am in Buffalo (just up the road) for our provincial chapter. This is a meeting of the friars which we have every four years to decide what we will be doing for the next several years.

I'll be flying to England this Saturday for a seven week stay in Canterbury to teach a couple of courses at the Franciscan Institute there. I am not sure how soon I will have access to the internet, so if this blog is not done every week, don't worry about me.

I finished one book this week: The Cardinal's Hat by Mary Hollingsworth. It was a very interesting book about a Renaissance Cardinal. He was the grandson of Pope Alexander VI and the son of Lucretia Borgia (not exactly the most righteous family). He was part of the nobility from a city in northern Italy called Ferrara. His brother was the count, and he was the bishop of Milan (and eventually Lyon). Most of the book deals with his account books (what his life style cost, how he bribed people to become a cardinal, etc.). It is not an edifying account. This cardinal was a generation right before the Church started its Trent reforms and the popes and cardinals became more dedicated to their religious duties.

My schedule for the next few months is:

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

06/13/10 - 06/18/10 - Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hamburg, NY (Provincial Retreat)

06/19/10 - 07/01/10 - St. Victor's Major Seminary, Tamale, Ghana, West Africa p.o.c. Fr. David Azambawu(Seminarian Retreat)

07/04/10 - 07/10/10 - St. Francis Convent, Mishawaka, IN 46546 p.o.c. Sr. M. Dorothy

07/11/10 - 07/18/10 - Quellen Spiritual Center, Mendham, NJ 07945 p.o.c. Sr. Teresa Marie (Sisters' Retreat)

God bless and

Shalom

fr. Jude Winkler

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Holy Week at Home

April 8, 2010

Peace and Good,

I was home all of Holy Week, and that was a real joy considering how much I have been travelling this past few months. Even there, though, I did have a few assignments.

Monday of Holy Week I gave a talk at Walter Reed Medical Center. The theme of the talk was our Lenten Practices: Conversion and Prayer. I am always pleased when I talk there. There is a small to medium size group in the chapel, and then it is televised throughout the center.

Tuesday evening I gave a talk to the Knights of Columbus in the local parish. The topic was the Passion Narratives in the Gospels. What a perfect time to give that talk. It was like an extended way of the cross.

From Thursday evening until Sunday noon, I was giving a Triduum retreat at Mariottsville Retreat Center which is not all that far away from our friary (so I was able to sleep at home each evening). There were about 20 on the retreat, and then we had the sisters who live there (The Sisters of Bon Secours) and outsiders joining us for the Triduum services.

I finished two books. I listened to HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brien. This is a book in the Horatio Hornblower spirit. It was entertaining because it presents an archaic way of thinking. It is set during the Napoleonic Wars, concerning a captain and a ship's doctor who do great deeds of bravery.

I also finished the novella When Night Falls by Margaret Daley. This is a detective novel with a Christian background. Instead of ending up in bed every five minutes, the heroes pray and speak of their faith. The idea is great, the execution a bit heavy handed, but it was worth reading.

My schedule for the next couple of months is:

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

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

06/13/10 - 06/18/10 - Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hamburg, NY (Provincial Retreat)

06/19/10 - 07/01/10 - St. Victor's Major Seminary, Tamale, Ghana, West Africa p.o.c. Fr. David Azambawu(Seminarian Retreat)

07/04/10 - 07/10/10 - St. Francis Convent, Mishawaka, IN 46546 p.o.c. Sr. M. Dorothy

07/11/10 - 07/18/10 - Quellen Spiritual Center, Mendham, NJ 07945 p.o.c. Sr. Teresa Marie (Sisters' Retreat)

God Bless

and Shalom

fr. Jude

P.S. A belated Happy Easter!