Los Angeles

July 6, 2022 Peace and Good, Well, I got through my covid experience. It took me 11 days to test negative. I really only had bay symptoms at the start (like a very bad cold). The last few days there were no symptoms, but I kept testing positive. Finally Saturday I got a negative test. I was supposed to fly to Baltimore last Sunday, but I had to cancel it because of the covid. I am lucky I did, for my flight called me to change planes in Chicago, and with all the delays and cancellations, I doubt that I would have made it. Today's flight is direct to Baltimore, so I hope things will go well. The weather here has been magnificent. Even when it climbs to the low 80's, it is with a very low humidity. I have been doing a lot of zooming in these days to get the work done that could not wait. I finished some reading: The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan This is the story of the relationship between a Chinese woman and her daughter, but it is really the story of the horrible life of the mother when she married her first husband who was cruel and brutal. That marriage occurred in the early days of the Japanese invasion of China during the Second World War. The story speaks of how women were treated as objects, expected to expect anything that their husbands or the husband’s mother dished out to them. The book is well done, if a bit painful to read. The Dragon Seekers by Christopher McGowan This deals with the first discoveries of dinosaur skeletons in Great Britain. An unsung hero of this movement was Mary Anning. She made her living digging up the skeletons long before others even realized their meaning. She is the woman behind the saying, “She sells sea shells by the sea shore.” The book especially with the question of the scientists dating of the materials and the question of evolution vs. creationism. A Storm in Flanders by Winston Groom Winston Groom is the author of Forrest Gump. He has also written a series of history books, mostly dealing with topics concerning war from the Revolutionary War up to the days of World War II. He manages to deal with the larger issues while still given accounts from the words of individual soldiers. It deals with the horrible battlefield in Flanders that led to the death of thousands and thousands of Germans and Brits. Both, at times, fought a 20th century war with 19th century tactics. Great Ideas of Classical Physics by Steven Pollack This is a series of lectures from the Teaching Company dealing with physics from the days of Isaac Newton to the beginning of the 20th century. The professor is informative and the lectures, in spite of the fact that it deals with a heavy topic, is understandable. The Rise of Athens by Anthony Everitt Everitt is a tremendous historian of the ancient world, and this book is one of his masterpieces. It goes from the founding to the city to the period when it became irrelevant except as an education center. He gives an enormous amount of detail in an entertaining manner. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The American Revolution by Robert McDonald This is a Learn25 course. It deals with the causes, major occurrences, and effects of the American Revolution. The professor who offers the course is well informed, but he does not pile on more detail than is needed. I would recommend this course. A Faint Heart by Fyodor Dostoevsky This is the story of two young men in St. Petersburg. It takes place around the middle of the 19th century. One is a scribe who is contracted to do a large job copying documents. He has just gotten engaged, but he is far behind on his project. It eventually causes him to have a nervous breakdown. The story is filled with dialog, typical of Dostoevsky’s style. China’s Long March by Jean Fritz This is the story of the long march of the communists (and specifically the group that followed Mao) from southern to northern China when war broke out between the communists and the forces of Chang Kai-Shek. It is a bit fawning, making the communists into great heroes and all but ignoring their atrocities (e.g. the starvation of millions during the Great Leap Forward). 10 Women who rule the Renaissance by Joyce Salisbury This is a series of accounts about famous women from throughout the world during the time of the Renaissance. It is an odd choice. Some of the women lived what could be called very disreputable lives (violence against others) and yet they are presented as heroes of feminism. I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the fawning approach toward these particular women. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome - Louisville - Chicago

November 11, 2021 Peace and Good, I am on the move again, and will be in the States until December 10th, travelling here and there. International travel is getting marginally easier. One still has to have Covid tests and fill out form after form, but other than the mask wearing while one is in flight, it is really not all that bad. I was at a three day meeting of Our Lady of Consolation Province (Midwest and Southwest) at Mt. St. Francis, a site just outside of Louisville. The meeting went very well. The frias spoke of the present situation of the province and its dreams. Yesterday we drove to Chicago, about 5 hours of travel. I will be here next week to give a workshop to our postulants (postulancy is the year before novitiate). The weather here is changing, rain today and snow tomorrow. This is to be expected in Chicago at this time of year. I have been working on a new book in my mind. These days I hope to get an initial outline completed and we will see what comes of it. I finished some books: Samuel Adams: a Life by Ira Stoll This is a good portrait of the revolutionary Samuel Adams, and cousin of the second president John Adams. He was one of the most responsible for stirring up revolutionary spirit first in Massachusetts, and eventually throughout the colonies through his committees of correspondence which shared news about what was happening. Stoll is not afraid to show the flaws in Adams’ personality, the most troubling of all being his rabid anti-Catholicism. Adams served on countless commissions during the Second Continental Congress, and later helped write the Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Constitution and served as the second governor of the state. Lawrence Welk by Charles River Editors This is not exactly a scholarly production, but it is an interesting note on popular culture during the 50’s and 60’s. I remember how my parents turned on the Lawrence Welk show every Saturday evening. The book goes through Welk’s career, and the interesting note is how good a businessman he was, dying incredibly rich. The Seven Days: The Emergence of Robert E. Lee and the Dawn of a Legend by Clifford Dowdey This book deals with the beginning of Robert E. Lee’s career as the general in charge of the Army of Virginia which was protecting Richmond. The book is an honest evaluation of the characters and the successes and failures of all of the major characters in this drama. McClennan comes across as a great organizer but a terrible general. Lee is seen as something who is taking over a massive operation in mid-stream due to the injury of the commanding general Johnston. The surprise is the failure of Stonewall Jackson who had performed so brilliantly during the valley campaign, but who seemed out of sorts during this particular battle (possibly a victim of exhaustion). The book is well done. Van Gogh by Peter Russell This is one of the Delphi Masters of Art series. It deals with Van Gogh’s life, and his art. Then there is a massive appendix of his correspondence with his father, with his brother, and with others. The correspondence well shows the development of Van Gogh’s emotive difficulties that eventually led to his genius in art but also his collapse and probable suicide as a person. The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik This is a brilliant series of stories about three of the major players in the late 18th century and how revolution changed them. The author, whose works I have previously read, deals with the American, French and Russian revolutions. The Americans managed to find a balance between authority and change, the French failed terribly in this attempt due to a series of factors, and the Russians under Catherine the Great drifted from being the darling of the enlightenment to an autocratic empire. Winik is able to show how these three movements influenced each other for the positive and the negative. Nigeria and West Africa by Wendy McElroy This book gives a history of the area in Africa that eventually became Nigeria. It is not all that exhaustive, but it does give an outline to the history of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Nigeria. I would recommend it as a primer on the topic. The Forgotten Tudor Women by Sylvia Soberton This is an outline of the lives and careers of various women in the Tudor circles. The book deals with court politics and the explosive personalities of Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth. It is the kind of book that would be appreciated by Tudor fans, but for those who are not, it is filled with unfamiliar names and titles and is honestly not all that well written. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome

December 21, 2020 Peace and Good, I got through the ten days of meetings for our General Definitory. It is a good group of men. We talk through things until we reach a consensus. No one is afraid to give his opinion, and no one tries to shut the other down. But ten days is a long, long time to meet from morning to night. The weather is cool, with rain every few days. Rome is not in a total shut down, but it does have its limitations. The 24th to the 26th and again the days around New Year's Day will be shut downs. I just heard about the quarantine for flight to and from Great Britain. Fortunately, on the 11th of January, my trip is via Germany. We will have to see what happens with that. I have finished my series of six articles for our magazine in Kenya. I was going to do them on the Blessed Virgin Mary, but then the Holy Father declared this to be the year of St. Joseph, so it was back to the drawing board. I can use the BVM idea next year. These days I will be doing a bit of work on a couple of articles I have been asked to write. I should finish them by tomorrow evening. This evening I am going to do a zoom meeting with some ladies in the States on Bible Study (three Mondays in a row). I am glad to be able to share some of my insights in this manner. I have finished some reading: Museum Masterpieces: Metropolitan Museum of Art by Richard Brettell This is a video series that speaks about the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most of the Teaching Company courses that I have participated in up to this point were audio, but this course needed to be video as well (for one had to see the paintings, statutes, and other art objects). The presenter is filled with vitality without being too much. I enjoyed this course, and will continue to view more of their video courses. Paradise Regained by John Milton Recently I read Paradise Lost, the first time that I had read it. This was a companion poem. I was surprised that it went up only to the temptations of Jesus in the desert. I am now listening to a Teaching Company Course on Milton so that I might understand more of what the two poems are all about. Hue 1968 by Mark Bowden Bowden is an excellent war author. This book deals with the critical battle between the troops of the US and the Republic of Vietnam and those of the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese. This battle took place during the Tet offensive in 1968, and although the communist forces were defeated and expelled from the city, their attack and their early victories caused discouragement among the Americans. It was at this time that Walter Cronkite visited Vietnam and made the editorial statement that he thought that the US should get involved in negotiations because we were not winning the war (no matter what propaganda the military was issuing). Medical Pediatrics by Roy Benaroch This is a teach company account of how a doctor treats his pediatric patients. Benaroch is an excellent presenter of this topic. He deals with the patients with great knowledge and experience, but also with great compassion, always treating his patients with tremendous respect. The La Brea Tar Pits by Charles River Editors This is a short account of the history of the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. The earliest use for the tar that came out of the pit was to provide construction material (especially for waterproofing various structures). It was only later that fossils were found in the pits of animals that had fallen in the pits and had become trapped there. Some of the animals were prehistoric and now extinct in America. In the Hurricane’s Eye by Nathanael Philbrick Philbrick is a very good author of American history. This book is on the battle of Yorktown. It deals especially with Washington and his struggle to hold his army and that of his ally together. He was frustrated by the fact that the French had promised to help him, but they had their own plans. Their greatest interest was how they might defeat the British in the Caribbean where the real profit lie. Philbrick gives a very good picture of the various parties and their motivations. The Battle of Gaugamela by Charles River Editors The is the account of the battle in which Alexander the Great definitively defeated the emperor of Persia. He was outnumbered, and the emperor of Persia had planned his battle well, but it was no good. The short book also speaks of the aftermath of the battle. Merry Christmas fr. Jude