Ellicott City

March 12, 2025 Peace and Good, I have been home these days, helping out at the shrine and St. Joseph Nursing Home. Now and then I have a request to do an evening class at one group or another, usually scripture study groups. I like the pace of what I am doing. I have finished my immunotherapy. The last couple of infusions left me tired, but now they are over. One of the doctors told me my energy level should slowly return over the next few months. The chemotherapist told me, though, that I could have symptoms from the immunotherapy any time in the next five years. This past Monday I had a CT scan and it looks great. I have been doing this every three months, and for the next year it will be every four months if all goes well. I am working on a translation of a liturgical text from the Middle Ages in honor of St. Anthony. As far as we know, this has never been translated into English. There are a lot of texts like that. I have also been asked to do a children's book on Bl Carlo Acutis who will be canonized this Divine Mercy Sunday. He is the first millenial saint, a young boy who died at 15 who served as an "influencer" for our faith. Friday I fly to San Diego to preach a parish mission. I have been at this parish a number of times, and it will be good to be back. I finished some reading and listening: Mind Blowing Science I by Scientific American This is a Great Courses collection of video presentations on a wide range of topics originally produced by Scientific American (e.g. dinosaurs and their size, Neandertal art, pets, earthquake prediction, the importance of sleep, etc.). I found the presentations, each around 20 to 30 minutes long, to be fascinating. I have already purchased volume 2 of this series and am looking forward to watching it. Early European Christian Relics by Charles River Editors This is a short treatment of some of the relics associated with the crucifixion of Jesus. It deals with their discovery (assuming that the legends are somewhat credible), their history, and where they are found today. There is a maze of information and legend concerning all of these items, and so the author had to choose what seemed to be the most credible without saying that it was the only theory. Sanctity and Learning by C. Colt Anderson This is an overview of some of the reformers of the Church and how they shared their insights with the larger world. It is really just a smattering of figures like Pope Gregory VIII, Peter Damian, Catherine of Siena, etc. Anderson shows the figures as people who fully recognized the fallibility of the Church of their day, but also who wanted to love it into healing. The solutions they suggested depended much upon the particular circumstances of their day, but there was always a longing to heal the wounds of the Church. Lost Art: The Stories of Missing Masterpieces by Noah Charney This is a Great Courses/Audible presentation on art that has been stolen, destroyed, lost, possibly never done throughout the ages. Charney speaks of the art itself and of its artists, but also of the detectives and other agencies that search for missing pieces. The course came across as a detective novel. For Christ Assembled by John O’Malley This is a Learn25 course on the major ecumenical councils throughout the ages. I had already listened to O’Malley’s courses on Trent, Vatican I and Vatican II. This course repeats those ideas, but also presents an outline of the earliest and medieval councils. O’Malley manages to find a wonderful balance in his presentations, telling what really happened and why without getting into the pettiness that often accompanies Church meetings. The World’s Greatest Paintings by William Kloss This is a course from the Great Courses. Unlike most of those that I have used which were all audio, this was a video. The presenter is a great art critic and his explanations are tremendous. I had never understood before the importance of perspective and angularity in paintings, and Kloss showed how this functions. I will certainly be on the outlook for other courses prepared by him. City of Endless Night by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston This is the story of an FBI special agent Pendergast (the protagonist of a whole series of books by Child and Preston) and a series of grisly murders and decapitations. The original theory is that it is a murderous Robin Hood, attacking the rich, but the story is more complicated than that. As always, the individual books in this long series are very entertaining. Women and the Bible by Barbara Reid This is a Learn25 course on a feminist approach to Scripture. It is good, and I gained a good number of insights. Yet, I always have the feeling that some of the feminist scholars want to take things too far, seeing in the text what they would like to see and not what is actually there. It would be another thing if they were to say that their conclusions are the logical progression of the thought found in Scripture, but that is not quite what many say. Cyber Spies and Secrets Agents of Modern Times by Allison Lassieur This course which is prepared by Great Courses and Audible deals with the most dangerous cyber security issues of our days, especially in terms of their impact upon national security. The professor is not an alarmist, but he is realistic in his presentations. He warns of the dangers of hackers (both individual and governmental), especially from China. The Real History of Dracula by Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman This is a joint Great Courses/Audible course on the history of the legend of Dracula. Rather than depending on the Vlad the Impaler source, the authors go into greater depths to investigate the history of the vampire legend throughout the world. They speak of modern presentations of the legend and how some of this is based upon these earlier sources, and some is based upon the invention of the modern authors. It speaks of the popularity of this legend over the ages. The only downside is that the presenters are very often giggling, as if they were telling these stories around a campfire. Understanding Eschatology by David Flanagin This is a Learn25 course on the topic of the end times. This includes treatment of the Book of Revelation and its use by various Christian sects. The lectures are understandable and informative. I would recommend this course for those interested in the topic, and especially for understanding some of the viewpoints of the Christian Nationalist Movement. Churchill and America by Martin Gilbert Martin Gilbert is a masterful author of topics such as World War I and the Holocaust and topics about the history of Great Britain. In this presentation, he talks of the relationship of Churchill and his government with America (especially FDR and Truman). Churchill, himself, was half American (on his mother’s side). Gilbert is always an informative and entertaining author. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude