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