Rome

June 22, 2019 Peace and Good, I have been in Rome since the end of the General Chapter which was held in Collevalenza, a shrine about 70 km from Assisi. I had preached all throughout the chapter, so by the end of it I was all talked out. This week has been good to catch up with some projects, but also just to rest a bit. I am working on daily reflections to get as far ahead as possible in these slower weeks. Once summer comes, there is usually a lot of travel here and there and they can be more difficult to do. The weather went from a very cool, very long Spring to Summer almost overnight. The heat is as bad as it usually is in mid-August (with the exception that the evenings are still quite pleasant). Most of the chapter friars have gone home in these days. The new definitors must pack up and travel to Rome in these days. We will have our first big definitory meeting in mid-August. On Monday, the General Chapter had a private audience with the Holy Father. This is the first time that I had met him. It was a very nice event. I have finished some reading: The White Nile by Alan Moorehead This is the companion volume to the Blue Nile which I read a bit back. It is really the history of British exploration and conquest on the Nile River from Egypt down to Uganda. It presents the history well, but for a euro-centric, or I should say anglo-centric point of view. It covers the history of the various explorers and their strengths and their weaknesses (even their strangeness) well. The Great Wall of Gorgan: the History of the Ancient Near East’s Longest Defensive Wall by Charles River Editors This is the story of the building of a protection wall around the Caspian Sea to protect Iran from the barbaric invaders from the north. The author gives a lot of information on the Sassanid dynasty which ruled this country in the early Christian era until the arrival of the Arabs. It gives a lot of information about a topic which is a bit obscure. China, India and the United States: the Future of Economic Supremacy by Peter Rodriguez This Is a relatively short course from the Great Courses Company. It speaks of the incredible growth of India and China. India has grown largely because many of the pre-existing conditions which controlled the growth of the economy by blocking outside influence have been loosened. The economy can grow if the government addresses the urgent question of the infrastructure. China has grown because its leaders have largely abandoned their communist principles. It now has the second largest economy in the world. The US, by contrast, has grown slowly in the past decades. Yet, it is still the largest economy of the world. The professor who presented this course says that the US must accept the fact that their economy will not be the only powerful economy, but this does not mean that it will lose its status as important. Carcassonne: the History and Legacy of the Castles, Campaigns and Crimes in France’s Fabled Walled City by Charles River Editors This is the history of the city that was at the center of the Albigensian heresy during the Middle Ages. This was a dualistic religion which ran into controversy with the Roman Catholic Church. Part of the story not greatly emphasized in this account is the political dimension of the fight (for the king in Paris was trying to steal power from the local nobility). The author is quite prejudiced against the Catholic Church. While it is true that the institution of the Church was often brutal, it was not the only one. It would have been better if the author gave evidence and let the judgment stand where it would. Kraken by China Mieville This is a very, very strange book which takes place in the modern era. A kraken, a giant squid, is stolen from a museum. This leads to an investigation in which it is discovered that the theft is part of a greater plot to bring the end of the world. There are very,, very strange cults and criminals. This book reminded me a bit of the rivers in London series in which a police officer practices magic, but it is a much, much more excited dialog. Overall I liked it, but not everyone would. Great Zimbabwe: the History and Legacy of the Medieval Kingdom of Zimbabwe’s Capital by Charles River Editors This is the story of a great edifice constructed in central southern Africa many centuries ago. There seems to have been a rather large empire in this region. When whites first found these ruins, they naturally assumed that they had to have been created by some other culture (for to admit that locals built them would make them admit that Africans could do great things). This was especially true under the racist government right after independence. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Assisi - Collevalenza

June 9, 2019 Peace and Good, I have been at the General Chapter for three weeks now. We started out in Assisi where we elected our Minister General and the General Definitory. I have been asked to stay on for another term, so it will be another six years on the road. On the 28th we moved to a shrine around 70 km from Assisi called Collevalenza. It is a shrine to Divine Mercy, and there is a massive pilgrimage center here (with over 200 rooms). The shrine receives quite a few pilgrims, along with our 120 chapter delegates. The weather this Spring has been cool and rainy. It is only now warming up (considerably). We will be here until the end of this week. The chapter will have lasted a month. We have our most important business already accomplished, and we just have some odds and ends to take care of this week. I have been preaching each morning at Mass in Italian and English. Since we are meeting all day long, the friars prefer a short and to the point homily - 3 minutes or so. I have the ability to do that, so it has been working well. I have finished some reading: Grover Cleveland by Henry Graff This is a relatively short biography of the life and career of Grover Cleveland, the only president in the history of the country to serve two non-consecutive sessions as president. He is presented as a good, honest, but not overly imaginative man. He sided with business over the worker. He helped guide the US through some difficult years, but was certainly a man of his times. After his presidency he opposed the push for empire under McKinley and Roosevelt. Not exactly a great president, but not a bad man either (especially after the incredible corruption during the presidency of Grant.) Native Peoples of North America by Daniel Cobb This is a teaching company course on Native Americans from a Native American perspective. It is an unusual version of revisionist history. Much of the information is very good, but some of it is so stilted that it is almost ludicrous. For example, the professor speaks of how the Anglo’s are guilty of rights violations against the Apache and Comanche because they hindered their raiding of other tribes. Another example is how he blames the Office of Indian Affairs (which has a sordid history) for the looting of their main office in Washington during a demonstration. As If In An Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of the Revolution by Richard Archer This is the account of Britain’s first occupation of Boston in the early days of the colonies’ rejection of British rule. The occupation was intended to bring the Bostonians into line after their fight against taxes imposed on various products, but it had the exact opposite effect. The presence of a large number of troops in a city with too much free time on their hands brought a continuous growth in resentment, leading to the point that the colonials began to question whether they had become something else than British, leading to the American Revolution. Hail Holy Queen by Scott Hahn Scott Hahn is a convert from a Presbyterian background where there is very little devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This volume is a type of apology for his previous attitude and gives a good scriptural and patristic defense of our devotion to Mary. There are a couple of places where he uses sources in a bit of an uncritical manner, but overall it is very well done. I found it informative and enjoyable. The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy I had read this book a long, long time ago, but I did not remember how good it was. It deals with the era at the end of Communism as well as the machinations to develop an arms accord agreement. The first part is very, very good, while the later part gets a bit preachy. It was well worth reading. Shay’s Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion: The History and Legacy of America’s First Domestic Insurrections by Charles River Editors This is a short account of Shay’s Rebellion in Western Massachusetts that occurred during the days of the Articles of Confederation and was one of the events that led the countries leaders to realize that they needed a more developed centralized federal government and the Whiskey Rebellion fought in Western Pennsylvania which was fought over the establishment of excise duties on the production and sale of whiskey (given the location of these settlers over the mountains, whiskey was the only practicable way to bring the excess of their grain harvest to sale in the cities). Both of them did not amount to much, but both showed that the spirit of rebellion that fueled the War of Independence had not yet died out. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude