Seoul - Rome

October 23, 2016 I spent most of last week in Seoul with our friars at their provincial chapter. I had been the visitator for this province since the Assistant General for Asia comes for Korea and he could not do the visitation in his own province. I had a presentation that went less than an hour, but there is something about being present for the discussions that shows the local friars that we, in Rome, care about what is going on there. The General and Benedict, the Assistant General for Asia were also there. I was also present on Wednesday for a discussion on the future of our Philippine custody. We have been looking at the situation for some time, and would like Korea to take a more active role in guiding the Philippines so that they could be better prepared to become a province. There will be a proposal at the second session of their chapter in November that says this. I arrived back in Rome on Thursday evening. I had a few meetings on Friday, and yesterday I was trying to catch up on rest and sleep. This has been a bad jet lag time since I did an around the world trip in about ten days. It will probably take more than a week for me to catch up. Later this morning the General Definitory heads out to Portugal. It is only about a two hour trip. We have a congress there to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Militia of Mary Immaculate, a group founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe. Then we will also have a definitory there. From there I will head to Dublin for a visitation of the Irish part of the Great Britain/Ireland custody. I will not be back in Rome until early December. I have finished some books: Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory by Julian Thompson The story of the mass evacuation of most of the British Expeditionary Force from northern France where they were trapped at the beginning of World War II has always fascinated me. This is not the book to read about this topic. It delves mostly into land defences as the pocket which held the Brits collapsed around them. It speaks at length of the names and identify of various groups of soldiers. It only quickly covers the actual evacuation. A Change in His Heart by Jack Gredrickson This is a very good story about a beaten down detective in a small city who seeks to survive numerous indignities throughout a snow storm. In the meantime, a discount store owner and his assistant are selling cheap, fire damaged boots to a multitude of customers. These stories collide when the detective buys a pair of boots which smell of smoke, have a purple dye that runs, and are uncomfortable. The owners assistant discovers both that his boss has been setting him up to be charged with sales tax violations, and that he sabotoged his romantic interest. It has a very good ending. Seven Women by Eric Metaxis This is a companion volume to Metaxis’ book on seven men. These are important women who, by their faith, managed to change the world. They include Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, St. Maria of Paris, Corrie ten Boom, Rosa Parks and Mother Teresa. This is a nice mix of the Christian tradition,, including two Catholics, one Orthodox and four Protestant. Three are from previous centuries while the other four are recent, including two who gave their witness saving people during World War II. This is the author of a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and another one on William Wilberforce who fought for an end to the slave trade at the beginning of the 19th century The book is a series of short biographies, and is an inspiring read Rocks with Wings by Anne Hillerman This is one of the books written by the daughter of Tony Hillerman. He has written a long series of books of police enforcement on the Navaho reservation. His books give a wonderful insight into modern day Navaho culture Anne Hillerman is successful on that insight as well, but the plot of her detective story leaves something to be desired. She seems desperate at the end of the book to put everything in at once, and she has characters saying things that are unlikely just so that she can tie the plot together. I hope that her future books are as good on the cultural elements but improve on the detective part of the story. Hail Dayton by Rachel Maddux This is the story of visiting a small town in Tennessee, Dayton, in which the famous Scopes Evolution Trial took place. There is nothing much there, but a few years ago the town fathers arranged for an annual commemoration of the event with a series of plays and other events. The author comes from up the road a bit in Tennessee, and Dayton had often been used as a mock term for a hick town. After visiting Dayton, the author finds that much more difficult to do. Hope you have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude