Finishing Up the Trinity Term

June 2, 2010

Peace and Good,

All goes well in not so sunny old England. We're still having cool weather, although they promise us that it will warm up in these days.

I have finished all of my extra adult ed classes. I am in the process of drawing to a close with my other three courses. I will absolutely finish next Thursday, and then Friday Fr. David Blowey (who is stationed here and is from St. Anthony Province) and I will fly back to Baltimore.

I got to visit London this past week. I love walking through the streets of London. It is a great city. Our friary in near Waterloo station, which means that it is within walking distance from most of the important sites in the city.

I visited what I think is the best book store that I have ever seen: Foyle's. Whereas other stores might have one or two books on a particular topic, Foyle's has a dozen. The only problem is that books (and everything else) are so expensive over here. I got out of the store after having bought only one book: a book on the Medieval age and how the Book of the Apocalypse influenced it.

I finished two books. The first is a biography of Cavour by Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Ceraresco. Cavour is one of the Italian patriots who was responsible for the Italian unification in 1870. He is an interesting character. He was the ultimate opportunist. He had his ideals, but he would wait for the proper moment to spring into action.

The other book was the 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison Salisbury. This account was excellent. It speaks of the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis during the Second World War. It lasted almost three years. For good parts of that time, a city of more than two million people was completely cut off from any assistance from the outside.

As if this brutality were not enough, he also speaks of the brutality of the Soviet system which persecuted people even during this horific time (and after sent most of the heroes of the seige to prison or to be executed).

The following is my schedule for the next few months:

until June 11: Canterbury, England - teaching

June 13 - 18, 2010: Provinicial Chapter, Buffalo, NY

June 19 - 30, 2010: St. Victor's Major Seminary, Tamale, Ghana - seminarian retreat

July 4 - 10, 2010: St. Francis Convent, Mishawaka, IN - Retreat for Sisters

July 11 - 18, 2010: Quellen Spiritual Center, Mendham, NJ - Retreat for Sisters

July 19 - 23, 2010: St. Francis of Assisi Friary, Mishawaka, IN - Novice Retreat

July 24 - 31, 2010: Chatauqua Community, Chatauqua, NY - Priest in Residence

August 5 - 15, 2010: Our Lady of Consolation Shrine, Carey, OH - Parish Novena

August 16 - 20, 2010: Maronite Seminary, Washington, D.C. - Seminarian Retreat

August 21 - 27, 2010: Ocean City, MD - vacation

August 28 - September 3, 2010: St. Francis of Assisi Friary, Mishawaka, IN - Novitiate Conferences

God bless and
Shalom

fr. Jude