Ellicott City

January 14, 2025 Peace and Good, It has been a good couple of weeks at home. I have been helping out at the Shrine and the Nursing Home. I got caught up with daily reflections which gave me time to begin a couple of other small projects. For example, I was able to start a series of articles on the Pentateuch for one of our magazines in Nairobi, Kenya. I have also been using some of my time to read about various aspects of spiritual direction. I now have about 25 people who come to me for direction (which is probably the maximum that I should handle for some time). In my reading, I have been studying the writings of St. Theresa of Avila and St. Ignatius of Loyola. I am especially interested in the stages of discernment. I have gotten some new ideas that could be very helpful for those with whom I am working and for myself. The weather has been cold and there was a considerable snowfall in these days. I kidded the people at Mass that in Buffalo we consider 6 inches to be a heavy frost, and 12 inches to be a dusting. There have been a good number of cancellations and rescheduling in these weeks. This is really no problem for me since my schedule is quite flexible. I finished some reading and listening: World War I: the Great War and the World it Made by John Ramsden This is a Modern Scholar study of the causes, action, effect and aftermath of World War I. It is nothing that I have not already heard, but Ramsden’s telling of the story is well done and it gives a good overview of the topic. St. Paul: Understanding his Life, Faith and Epistles by Ron Witherup This is a Learn25 course on the life and ministry and teachings of St. Paul. The professor gives a good idea about the culture in which he lived and why he addressed certain topics in his letters. He deals with some of the stickier topics such as the accusation of misogynism and antisemitism. I found his study fair and worthwhile. Celts and Germans: the Enduring Heritage of the European Northlands by Timothy Shutt This is a Modern Scholar study of the culture of the Celtic and Germanic people in Northern Europe. It deals especially with many of the legends and sagas from that area. Shutt is a great presenter – I have already listened to a number of his courses and would gladly listen to more. Canon Law: From Annulments to Sacraments, an Insider’s Look at Church Law by Arthur Espelage This is a Learn25 course on the Canon Law of the Church. It is not the most interesting of topics, but I felt that it would not hurt to have a little refresher. The presenter gives a theoretical basis for applying canon law in various situations. His presentation was not the most exciting that I have heard, but it was informative. Silk Road by Valerie Hansen This is a study of the life and culture and commerce of those who lived along what has been called the Silk Road. This was the path from China to the Mediterranean. It wasn’t actually a journey from one side to the other, but rather a series of shorter commercial journeys that eventually brought the material (such as silk and spices) to the Arab world and Europe. This book really doesn’t deal with the Silk Road as a global entity, but rather deals with the remains of a couple of cities where this commerce took place. Nowhere Left by Kate Bold This is a crime novel about a mass murderer in the Southwest and the work of two FBI agents who have to figure out the mystery. The characters are good and for the most part well developed. It was not a profound treatment, but entertaining. Berlin at War by Roger Moorhouse This is a very good study of the attitudes and lives of people living in Berlin from the beginning of World War II until its end with the Soviet occupation of the city. It deals with food and other shortages, slave labor and genocide against the Jews, the bombings, the treatment of the Soviets toward citizens, etc. Reading the book gave me a good number of insights into what life must have been like in that era. Contemporary Fiction: A Very Sort Introduction by Robert Eglestone This is one of the short introduction series, in this case a study of modern fiction and its techniques and goals. It was a bit too much literary criticism for my taste. I finished the book, but without a lot of enthusiasm. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus by OpenLearn This is a very short course on the play “Doctor Faustus” in the OpenLearn series. It is remarkably informative for a very short presentation. It spoke of the plot of the story and how it would have been perceived in Elizabethan England. It deals with question of the use of the black arts, hubris, God’s pardon, etc. I very much enjoyed it. Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heaven by Andrea Wulf A couple of times in a century, the planet Venus crosses between the sun and the earth to create a shadow on the sun. This is an account of the two crossings in the 17th century and of the attempt of astronomers to measure the time it took to pass through the sun (and thus determine approximately the distance of the sun to the earth). The History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction by William Bynum This is part of a series on various topics called the Very Short Introduction series. It is like a very long Wikipedia article on the topic. I found it informative, even if it bounced from here to there. John Paul II by Christopher Bellitto This is a Learn25 course on the life and ministry and teachings of Pope St. John Paul II. I have listened to some of Bellitto’s other courses, and I have always found him informative and balanced. He fits that bill in this treatment. He is very respectful but is able to point out some of the shortcomings in John Paul’s ecclesiology. It is well worth listening to this presentation. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude