Ellicott City

May 18, 2025 Peace and Good, This has been a busy week with helping out at the Shrine and a couple of outside ministry calls. I finished editing the children's book on Carlo Acutis that I have been writing, and we are now waiting for art work to come in. That usually takes a couple of months. They used to use an artist in Italy, and I don't know if that is still the case. The season has changed to summer here. Everything on the property is blooming and beautiful. Of course, that means plenty of pollin, which means my hay feaver activated, which means I ended up with a sinus infection. This is pretty normal for me. Thank goodness for Minute Clinics - it makes things so much easier. I have a request. Could you please keep my sister Marge in your prayers. She passed away on Friday. She had a lot of difficulties during her life, and I really hope she is experiencing peace right now. I finished some books; “J” by Ed McBain A rabbi is killed, and a group of antisemites are suspected. This is especially because the letter J had been painted on the wall of the alley where the murder occurred. The police assume that it stands for “Jew”, and therefore was a calling card of the murderer. The story, though, twists and turns until the truth is discovered. The Secret History of World War II by Various Authors This is a long compilation of accounts of various sky efforts by the allies in order to obtain information about the war plans of Nazi Germany and Japan. The book comes across as a collection of short Wikipedia articles. Storm by Ed McBain This is a standard 50’s and 60’s detective story in which a detective takes a vacation weekend with a new girlfriend, and they get involved with the murder one of the sky instructors. The dialog is not profound in any way, but the telling of the story is entertaining. Hegel in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern Strathern is a brilliant presenter of history topics. This is part of a series of short introductions to philosophers and other thinkers. He gives an outline of the life and the teachings of this figure from the late 18th and early 19th century Germany. Strathern is not really all that sympathetic in his presentation, basically accusing Hegel of spouting an unintelligible mass of theories that few really understood. One of Hegel’s pupils turned out to be Karl Marx (who twisted Hegel’s teaching from a Platonic approach to one that was very material and economic). Plague: A Very Short Introduction by Paul Slack This is part of the very short introduction presentation. They are 3 to 5 hours long, and they present various dimension of a particular topic. In this case, it deals mostly with the Black Death plague, but also covers some other relevant topics. It speaks of the pathology, of the cultural consequences, of the preventative measures, etc. This particular presentation is well done. How to Read the Gospel of Matthew by Ian Boxall This is a Learn25 course on the Gospel of Matthew. Its 12 lectures present a good overview of the Gospel and some of the particular emphasis that this evangelist had in his presentation. The professor is quite balanced, and one can hear his deep learning and his deep faith in the lectures. The Worst President Ever by Robert Strauss Who would one say was the worst president ever? Strauss presents Buchanan as his candidate. He was the president right before President Lincoln. He took the side of the south in the simmering argument on slavery and his inaction throughout his presidency and especially in the lame duck period between Lincoln’s election and his inauguration (which in those days occurred in early March) allowed the rebellion in the south to reach a point of no return. This does not even deal with some of the other controversies during his presidency (e.g. war against the Mormons in Utah, bleeding Kansas, etc.). Discovering West Africa: Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon by Nathan Fluellen I thought that this was going to be a studied approach to these West African countries, but it really comes across as more of an infomercial presented by a travel influencer. Fluellen does a good job of presenting some of the history and culture of these three countries, but this should not be mistaken with an academic presentation. The Empty Hours by Ed McBain This is a novella about a murder that is filled with twists and turns. From the start, there is confusion. The police mistake the race of the person killed. Then, there is a question of why anyone would want to kill this somewhat mysterious person. The police are only able to solve the mystery by investigating a series of checks that she had written in the previous weeks. The Vietnam War by John McManus This is a Great Courses presentation done my a Vietnam war vet who portrays a very balanced view of the war in Vietnam from the days under the French til the present. The course is very informative and well presented. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in the period. Richard III: Brother and Protector King by Chris Skidmore King Richard III is often portrayed as a hunchback villain (e.g. in Shakespeare). This book gives a more balanced view of the man. He had his positive dimension, but he also did some horrible things (e.g. the disinheriting and murder of his nephews and his seizure of the throne). Skidmore is able to tell the story and give a balanced viewpoint of what went on. The book is well done. The First Congress by Fergus Bordewich We like to think of the founding of the nation as something that went smoothly and that all of our legislators were like Greek philosophers. That just was not the case. There were conflicts and confusion right from the start. There were questions on the power of the central government, taxes, tariffs, paying of states’ debts, where the capitol should be, financial systems, etc. Yet, somehow, they got through it. This book gives a good account of those early days of the Senate and House and how they learned their roles. The Cuban Revolution by Hourly History This is a short history of Cuba. It especially deals with the time before the Cuban revolution (under Battista) and how Castro was able to overthrow the government with a force that never numbered all that many. It also deals with the whole America/Soviet Union question. The author basically blames the US for pushing Castro into the hands of the communists (which I think is a gross oversimplification of the story). God bless, fr. Jude