Ellicott City - Ocean City

June 13, 2025 The Feast of St. Anthony of Padua Peace and Good. i amanged to get away for a week, staying at the condo that the friars have in Ocean City, MD. I usually become like a hibernating bear when I go there, not wanting to do a lot of things other than walk and pray and read. i managed to study the encyclical that Pope Francis wrote last year on the Sacred Heart. I am giving a talk on the feast of the Sacred Heart, June 27. I feel like I am ready for that presentation. I have two retreats in the days following (a weekend retreat and a full week retreat) which I must still prepare. The weather here has warmed up considerably. Summer has arrived, but at least the humidity is not yet miserable. Tomorrow we have a big celebration for the feast of St. Anthony with a speaker and other events. I will help out a bit by leading a discussion session in the afternoon. I have been giving a few sessions to small groups lately. They usually have a given topic, but then during the question and answer period, they roam all over the place. I finished some reading and listening; The Confederacy on the Brink by Charles River Editors This is the story of the major battles of the Civil War from the period after the First Battle of Manassas til the Second Battle of Manassas, which includes all of the battles of the Peninsula, the Seven Days around Richmond, and the battles of General Jackson in the Shenandoah. Given the skill of many of the Confederate army leaders and the lack of talent of the earliest northern army leaders, it is a wonder that the north eventually won. The Printing Press by Charles River Editors This short presentation gives a good overview of the invention and spread of the printing press. This, however, is one book of the Charles River Editors that could have used a good editor. I like most of their presentations, but the entire middle of this book is packed with material on Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. While that period of time was important for the growth of printing, the author insists on giving tons of history on Luther that has nothing to do with printing. The Lord and His Prayer by N.T. Wright I have really been impressed with the writings of this theologian. His primary thesis is that Jesus came into the world to proclaim and inaugurate the Kingdom of God. Thus, this is his emphasis as he speaks of the prayer which Jesus himself taught his disciples. It is both a surrender to the will of God and the incarnation of that will in the lives of those who are praying it. World War II: Air War: An American Heritage Series by Stephen Sears This is an overview of the growth of the Army Air Corps’ contribution to the air battles of World War II. It is not all that long a presentation, but it gives a good idea of why they had such a difficulty in many of their earlier raids (i.e. the lack of a fighter that could accompany the bombers to the target) and of how they collaboration with the British forces (i.e. the Americans tended to bomb during the day while the British bombed at night). The Apocryphal Gospels by Bernard Buby This is an overview of some of the most important apocryphal gospels during the early centuries of the Church. These are the Gospels that were not included in the canon. Most of them were not accepted because of their Gnostic tendencies – presenting a Jesus which was very unlike the one presented in the canonical Gospels. Others contain some information which might be authentic (e.g. the names of Mary’s parents), but that information and the saying of Jesus are mixed with material which is clearly unacceptable. This was a Learn25 course. The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire and War in the West Indies by Matthew Parker This is the story of the sugar barons during the colonial period in the Caribbean. The author deals with periphery topics (such as the relationship between the English and French and Dutch). He speaks extensively of the horror of the slave trade and the degradation in which the slaves lived. He also speaks of the tropical indolence and excesses into which many of the planters fell. 1066 and Before All That: The Battle of Hastings, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman England by Ed West This is a book which deals with England before, during and after the invasion of the Normans in 1066. The author has a dry sense of humor which I greatly appreciated. It is not that I learned anything new in the book, but it was a great review of the topic. Delphi Complete Works of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo by Peter Russell This is part of the Delphi Art series which is a great collection of studies upon the lives and works of famous artists throughout the ages. Tiepolo is a Venetian artist during the Baroque and Rococo era of art. I cannot say that I like his work all that much, but it was good to learn about his background, his techniques, etc. Under Occupation by Alan Furst Furst is by far one of my favorite authors. This is a story set in Nazi occupied Paris during the Second World War. The author of a series of detective novels accidentally comes upon some information which he passes on to the underground. The recruit him and help him set up a small network to hide operatives. He eventually must escape from the Nazis when they unravel the netword. The Hidden History of the Boston Tea Party by Adam Jortner This 6 lecture course deals with the situation in colonial America which led to the Boston Tea Party, how it was played out, and the eventually political consequences of the action. There is no sensationalism in the course, just the facts (both objective and subjective – e.g. what was going through the minds of those who perpetrated it). Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and their Aftermath by Paul Ham This is a very thorough treatment of the use of the atom bomb on two Japanese cities during the Second World War. It includes an overview of the politics and beliefs of the era, the development of the bomb, the specific decision to use the bomb on cities, etc. It also speaks of the aftermath and even of the attempt of the US to downplay the effects of radiation upon the bombing victims. Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature by Daniel Breyer This was a very interesting overview of the darker side of human nature, e.g. evil desires violent thoughts or actions, culpability for thoughts and actions, etc. The professor draws a lot upon Eastern thought, but every so often also includes Christian beliefs. It is the type of course that I would like to put aside for a while and listen to it once again. Gunpowder by Charles River Editors This short gives the history of gunpowder from its earliest days (China or possibly India) through its changes over the years. It speaks of how it was first used for medicinal and entertainment reasons (fireworks), but eventually came to be used in guns and cannons. It was only the invention of non-smoking powder that would not give away the location of a shooter and of other forms of explosive that led to the lessening of the use of gunpowder. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude