Ellicott City - Chicago

November 18, 2024 Peace and Good, I hope you all are well. This past week at Ellicott City has been quite busy. I finished off my four week course on the Gospel of Luke which went very well. I have taken on quite a few spiritual directees. Interestingly, some of them have discussed questions with me that have forced me to do some reading on various topics which is very good. They are making me look at topics which I never investigated before. I really like that. Yesterday I travelled out to Chicago to give a workshop to the Postulants on the Letters of St. Paul. I have done this for quite a few years now. It is good to get to know them, and also to share insights with them on Scripture and on the Order (since I have visited almost all of it over the years) We have five postulants this year, which is a good number but not like previous pre-covid years. I got to see fr. Bernard, a friar from Australia who is now serving as vocation promoter in the province. He is a fine man, and is excited over his work. Friars Paul and Ian continue to work as the formation team here. Our friary is located in the north of the city, a few blocks from Loyola University. I really like Chicago. It is a city that is easy to find one's way around, and it has so many diverse nationalities. Walking several block can lead one from Vietnam to Ethiopia to Russia. I have finished some reading and listening: 1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder by Arthur Jerman These is a comparison of Lenin with Wilson, especially in the traumatic year of 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution and the entrance of the US into the First World War. They are seen as idealistic men who were also stubborn and self-righteous. They both wanted their nations to live up to great values, but were not willing to compromise on their ideals and thus doomed their countries and the world to a difficult future. The Great Sea by David Abulafia This is an extensive history of the Mediterranean Sea and the cultures that have existed along its shore. It deals with political history as well as cultural history, especially speaking of the trade that made the Mediterranean so important (both of the rise of the commerce and of its decline after the voyages of Columbus). Dante by RWB Lewis This is a presentation on the life, career, and writings of the famous Italian poet who produced the Divine Comedy, one of the greatest masterpieces of literature of all eras. Lewis knows how to weave outside material into the story to make certain nuances and topics in the Comedy more understandable. He presents a Dante who is flesh and blood and not a literary conceit. American Constitution 101 by David Hudson This is a very well planned and presented course on the American Constitution. The author manages to present rather complicated legal matters in a way that is fully comprehensible. He gives copious examples from case law and speaks of the various figures who had a tremendous influence on the interpretation and application of the articles of the constitution (e.g. Chief Justice Marshall, Chief Justice Warren, etc.). Rhodes after Antiquity by Charles River Editors Rhodes is famous for the fact that it housed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the colossus of Rhodes. This short history speaks of that monument, but especially of the island’s history under its Greek, Roman and Arab overlords up to the present day. The Berlin Wall: A World Divided by Hope Harrison This is course on the history of the Berlin Wall. The professor (for this is a Great Courses presentation) speaks of the reasons why it was built and the initial reaction to its construction (it having been built to halt the hemorrhage of citizens fleeing to the west from East Germany), of its effect on the people of East and West Berlin, and of its fall in 1989. The professor has a special love for Berlin which comes across in her presentations. Hacking the Code of Life by Nessa Carey This is a study of the science and practice of genetic engineering. It deals with how it is done and also with the more difficult question of whether it should be done and if so, when. It speaks of engineering done on human subjects (to correct a genetic flaw or, more dangerously, to produce a child that would meet the subjective desires of the parents) as well as on animals (producing larger animals, placing a genetic flaw in mosquitoes to kill off dangerous populations), etc. Hildebrand and His Times by W.R. Stephens This is a Librivox presentation of the life of Hildebrand who became Pope Gregory VII, a great reformer in the late Medieval period, and who fought with a series of Holy Roman Emperors for control of the mechanisms of the Church. Being an older, British presentation, its form is a bit antiquated, but the information provided is very good. St. Francis of Assisi by William Cook and Ronald Herzman I listened to this Great Courses presentation on the Feast of the founder of the Franciscans, October 4th. I have heard many presentations by William Cook who always gives a balanced and thorough treatment of the topic. This is the first time that I heard Herzman who is a colleague of Cook, and he is also very good. They are both very respectful of Francis and show a reverence for him which does not devolve into pious adulation. The Gracchi, Marius and Sulla by A.H. Beesly This is a Librivox presentation (which means that it is a book out of print which is read by volunteer readers and is offered for free at Librivox.com). It deals with the later stages of the Roman republic and especially with the social tensions that led to its fall and the inauguration of the Principate under Augustus. This book begins with the reforming Gracchi brothers who were murdered by the aristocracy, and closes with the dictatorship and murderous career of Sulla (in the generation before Julius Caesar and Pompei). Cold Light by Anita Sitarski This is a short treatise on bioluminescence, both the phenomenon and its possible importance for practical purposes in our modern world. The presenter is excited about her topic which is obvious, but she does present a good amount of interesting information. Henry Ford and the Building of Modern Capitalism by Jef Webb This particular course in the Learn25 series was a real challenge for the presenter because Webb had to balance the genius of organization and business enterprises with the fact that Ford was an anti-Semite (of great proportions). Webb does a good job of being honest and forthright with both dimensions of his subject. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Ellicott City

November 5, 2024 Peace and Good, I have been back in Ellicott City, quite busy with the regular forms of ministry here (confessions, Mass, lectures, guiding days of recollection, etc.). I love this type of work. I am now offering a four week course on the Gospel of Luke which is the Gospel we will be using in the liturgy this coming year. I have a morning session and an evening session (the same material). The evening session is live streamed and can be found at the Companions web site. This Saturday I will be offering a full day workshop on the Book of Revelation. The weather here has been glorious - beautiful fall weather. The leaves are about half fallen off of the trees. I had my 9th immunotherapy today. Only three more to go. I have been tolerating the therapy very well. I would like to ask you all a favor. Please remember three people with stage four cancer in your prayers: Jean Louis, Peggy and Heather. I finished some reading and listening: The Pentateuch by Michael Guinan This is a Learn25 presentation on the books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers of Deuteronomy). The professor is good at organizing and presenting the material. I did not hear any great new discoveries, but for me it was a good review of what I had previously studied. Galileo by Guy Consolmagno This is a Learn25 presentation on Galileo and his troubles with the Vatican. Guy Consolmagno is the official astronomer of the Vatican and a Jesuit brother. I have heard his other presentations that I thought were better organized. This presentation had a feel of containing a lot of material that was not immediately relevant, as if he were struggling to fill out the required number of lessons. Yet, he does a good job of showing that the Vatican was and is not anti-science, and that the Galileo affair is much more complicated than one would first imagine. 1066 by Jennifer Paxton This is a Great Courses production to speak about England in the years before the Norman invasion (Vikings and Danish rulers), during the invasion (Harold and William and the other major figures), and after the invasion (the conquest of the rest of England, the doomsday book. It is well organized and presented. The Spies who Never Were by Hervie Haufler This is a great account of the spies that Great Britain invented and used as a double cross to confuse Germany concerning the British war plans. One of the most famous episodes was that of Mincemeat, where a deceased man with secret plans was left off the short of Spain so the Germans would receive the false war plans that the allies intended to land in Sardinia or Greece and not in Sicily, which was the real plan. There is also the story of Garbo, so called because his role was beautiful as he invented a whole cadre of accomplices that were a product of his imagination. Ethiopia by Wendy McElroy This is a short history of this mysterious land on the horn of Africa. It is one of the few Christian nations in this area (Christian from very early days). It has been ruled by emperors and factional leaders throughout its history. For a while, it was mistakenly identified as the dwelling place of Priester John. The history runs from prehistoric times to the death of Haile Selassie. Ireland by Wendy McElroy This is a short history of the island nation from prehistoric times to recent decades. It gives a good history of the interaction of Ireland and Great Britain, as well as Irelands tragedies of the famine, of religious and political strife, of poverty and forced emigration, etc. Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri This is about a Sicilian detective who has to investigate his crimes in a bureaucracy that is confounding and filled with small and large corruption, and a culture that does not believe in telling its secrets. The staff is good but at times comical. In this volume the inspector has to deal with truth and levels of illusion that are confounding. The most important thing to do in these cases is to know that one does not know. Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark This is a thorough study of Prussia as a region and as a culture. It begins with the earliest settlements and amalgamation of the Prussia region, and ends with the rejection of the Prussian mentality (and even the region of Prussia) in the aftermath of the Second World War. Churchill’s Bomb by Graham Farmelo This book deals with the British attempt to produce the atomic bomb at the beginning of the war, their collaboration with the Americans, areas of concern in that relationship, and Churchill’s interest in scientific matters, but at times his fuzzy understanding of those things. While Britain sent many good scientists to the States for this research (including many foreigners who sought refuge in Great Britain), they also sent Klaus Fuchs who spied for the Soviets and handed over nuclear secrets to them that allowed them to develop their own atomic bomb. The Heist by Daniel Silva This is the story of an Israeli secret agent (and part time assassin) who is trying to steal the exploited riches of the Syrian ruling family. Gabriel Allon is the main character. He killed many of the Palestinians who were involved in the Munich Olympics Massacre. He is getting ready to take over his agency. In his other life, Allon is also a world-famous art restorer. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude