Ellicott City, Md - Montreal

October 3, 2021 I returned home from Ocean City on Sunday, a week ago. This week I worked with one of the staff for the Companions of St. Anthony, Reilly, to tape a number of presentations (a Thanksgiving Day Triduum, short overviews of the readings for Advent, a number of Psalms). Yesterday I flew to Montreal. Travelling is tough these days, but this one was not too bad. The Canadian passport control has become much better and I sailed through it. They do have covid tests upon arrival for random travellers, but I was not chosen. This morning I had Mass in English at one of our parishes here. It was nice, and the pastor prepared a special lunch for me with his staff. Tomorrow we celebrate St. Francis Day, and then on Tuesday we begin the extraordinary chapter for the Canadian custody (whose mother province is the Polish province in Gdansk). The weather here is cool and cloudy, but not all that bad. I finished some reading: Agatha Christi by Hourly History This is a short biography of the famous British detective novelist (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, etc.). What comes across is a quite traditional woman who started writing out of necessity (financial), and who developed it into an art form, or at least a home industry. She was twice married (her first husband having abandoned her, her second being a famous archaeologist). She never really treated her daughter with as much care and affection as she needed. Yet, she proved to be a remarkable author of works that entertained millions over the years (as well as being a playwright). The Dillinger Days by John Toland This is an account of the criminal career of John Dillinger and the other criminal gangs during the 20’s and 30’s. The book is well written, speaking of Dillinger’s decisions and motivations. He was not as bloodthirsty as others such as Pretty Boy Floyd (a clear psychopath), but he did use violence when he wanted to rob anyone or get away from pursuing foes. John Toland is a good author, having written a number of books on war events. A History of India by Michael Fisher This is a teaching company course on India (understood in the larger sense of the word, the entire Indian subcontinent). It deals with everything from the most ancient evidence of civilization to the modern problems in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The author is good at making difficult topics understandable. He gives both historic and cultural information, including the topic of the two major religions in India, Hindu and Islam, as well as other minority religions such as the Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Jews, etc. It is a course well worth investigating. Emperor Hirohito by Charles River Editors This is a short biography of the controversial emperor of Japan (controversial for his role in World War II). The author shows that Hirohito was neither a puppet of the military leaders, nor a vicious manipulator and autocrat. The truth is somewhere in the middle. After the Second World War he played a more symbolic role in governing, not unlike that of the Queen of Great Britain. Death at Sea by Andrea Camilleri This is a series of short stories concerning the investigations of a Sicilian police investigator. There is a pleasant tone in the book, informal and humorous. This is the first of Camilleri’s books that I have read (in English, translated from Italian). He deals with some of the uncomfortable topics of Sicilian life, such as the influence of the Mafia, the corrupt government practices, the role of the rich and the plight of the poor. The investigator comes across as human. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz This is one of the seven books that Koontz wrote on Odd Thomas, a fry cook from a desert town in California who is gifted/plagued by being able to see ghosts who appear to him to intervene on their behalf (to solve the case of their deaths, to help them let go and enter their eternal fate, etc.). In this volume, Odd travels to a Benedictine monastery to seek peace of mind after the traumatic events of his life. Instead, he must solve a very strange case there in order to save the lives of the Benedictine monks and sisters, and especially of the special needs children who are in their care. Italy and her Invaders by Stanley Leathes This is an academic paper (Cambridge University Press) on the invasions of Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. It is all but unreadable for the amount of detail and the shifting alliances and fates of the various invaders, e.g. Spain, France, the Holy Roman Empire) plus of the Italian powers (Venice, the Papacy, Naples, Milan, Florence, etc.). Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

London

August 12, 2021 Peace and Good, I have been in Great Britain since the beginning of the month, and will only be leaving here on the 17th. This week I took a quick trip to our friary in Barton, which is just outside of Manchester (only a couple of hours by train from London). I have been meeting with friars and talking. There is no special agenda, just giving the friars a chance to share with me whatever they would like. This is especially important given how closed we were during the pandemic. The weather has been miserable. There has not been one sunny day since I arrived. It has rained, at least for a while, every single day. I have been helping out a bit in our parish (very, very small) near our custodial office in London. It is good to have Mass with the people. That is something I don't often get when I am in Rome. The regulations concerning mask wearing have been somewhat lifted here, but many people are still wearing it inside of stores, and almost every on mass transit. A good number of people still wear them outside. I finished some reading: Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese This is a history of the use of coal from the earliest days of its exploitation in China and England to the present. The author deals with its mining, the pollution it causes, the problem of Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Monoxide, etc. She speaks of its present use to generate electricity, especially in the US and China. The work is well presented, and somewhat balanced in its approach. A History of India by Michael Fisher This is a series of lectures from the Teaching Company that runs from prehistoric times to the present day. It speaks of the Indian subcontinent, meaning the modern states of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It speaks of the influence of the Hindu, Muslim and other faiths (e.g. Christianity, Jainism, Sikes, etc.). It deals with colonialization and the fight to obtain independence. The courses are very informative and well done. Nicholas II by Captivating History This is a short biography of the tragic figure of the last czar of Russia and his family. It deals with his desire to retain an autocratic system even when history was moving against that tendency. Of course, it also deals with the influence of Rasputin. Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines by Charles River Editors This short work is an overview of the lives and careers of two of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution at the beginning of the 19th century. The led what turned out to be an incredibly violent revolution, a reaction to an incredibly violent exercise of slavery. Toussaint comes across as a stabilizing factor, while Dessalines is much more violent and ruthless. Lincoln’s Last Trial by Dan Abrams and David Fisher This is the story of how Lincoln and Stephen Logan defended a young man on a charge of murder. He had been attacked by another man from the village along with his brother, and the much smaller young man defended himself with a knife, killing the man attacking him. The trial is one of the first cases to have a full transcript, produced by Robert Hitt. Lincoln is shown as clever, wise, personable and brilliant in his presentation. The book is very good. Nat Turner by Charles River Editors This is the story of a slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831 led by a man named Nat Turner. It was especially brutal, both for what the slaves did to the whites and the revenge that the whites enacted upon the slaves. It was the nightmare of the slave owning class for the next decades. The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver This is one of the Lincoln Rhymes books. The paraplegic forensic investigator is called to investigate the assassination of an anti-American activist in the Bahama Islands. The assassin is from an obscure intelligence agency whose task is to kill dangerous enemies of the US. The book is filled with twists and turns. I especially like these books because they involve flawed characters, including Lincoln Rhymes. Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien This is an account of the role of the US women who were the pioneers of flight in the 1920’s and the 1930’s. This includes Amelia Earhart as well as other female flyers who faced terrible prejudice. This was a dangerous time to fly, and not a few women and men died in plane crashes in these days. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Assisi - Vatican City - Assisi

February 10, 2013 Peace and Good, I am sorry that I did not write a blog this past week, but the General Chapter had me hopping. In these past two weeks, we have had meeting after meeting. There are the general sessions at which all are present, there are the discussions in language groups, and then there are all the other meetings that I have because I am an Assistant General (I am on one of the committees that works on documents for the chapter, we have had a few General Definitory meetings to get some things ready for the next few years, and I have had a whole series of meetings with provincials alone and then with provincials and the General). The big event last week was the elections of the Minister General and his Definitory. The General was re-elected, which was a very good thing. We have had two Ministers General in a row who had only one term, and that leads to instability. The term is six years long, so fr. Marco is the Minister General now until 2019. I was re-elected to be the Assistant General for the English speaking part of the Order. I had a bit of a scare because my name had been mentioned as being a possible candidate for Vicar of the Order, the number two spot. I didn't really think I had the talents necessary for that job. It is an administrative position, and my gifts are more charismatic - preaching, giving retreats, etc. Fortunately, enough friars recognized that, and I was saved from it. The spirit of the Chapter is quite good. The friars are honestly trying to shape the future to be more faithful to what we say we are and what we truly want to be. It is not always easy, because we always fall back on what is familiar and comfortable, but as fr. Marco says, it is time to take a risk. On Wednesday we went down to Rome to be part of an audience with the Holy Father. He looks good, but he is getting very old. (I think he is 85 right now.) We were part of a general audience, so there were thousands of people, but we were given a place right up front. I was probably not more than 50 feet from the Pope. I sat next to one of our former Ministers General, fr. Lanfranco Serini. He is 89 years old, and not in the best of health, but he is making the effort to be present at all of the meetings. We so appreciate his heroic effort. I am starting to calendar my year right now. I can foresee trips to the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Then there will be all the other things that get put into the schedule. I am trying to give myself a little more leeway on each of the trips so that the travel will not be quite so grueling. We have one more week here in Assisi. Then, the 19th I head back to the States. I am going to visit one of the provincials who is in California who is ill, and I am going to take care of some visits to various doctors (a 50,000 mile check up). I have finished some books: The Battle for Leyte Gulf by C. Vann Woodward This is an account of the greatest naval battle between American and Japanese forces during the Second World War. The Japanese realized that if America conquered back the Philippines, then they would be cut off from their supply of oil which they obtained in Indonesia. They would be forces to surrender. They therefore gathered all their naval forces in three groups and attacked the American ships. The Americans, on the other hand, had enormous forces. Far from the days after Pearl Harbor, they had dozens of aircraft carriers (some of them full size and many abbreviated versions). The Americans successfully countered two of the attacks, destroying most of the Japanese ships. But one of those attacks was actually a decoy to draw most of the American forces north so that another group of ships could attack the forces left and then bombard the landing ships of the invading troops. They perfectly read the personality of Admiral Halsey who was impetuous and very aggressive. Somehow the few forces left to defend the beaches were able to hold off the enemy until, for some reason which to this day remains a bit mysterious, the Japanese pulled back, not pursuing their advantage. The book is well written, giving a good perspective of what each of the groups was attempting to do and what they actually accomplished. Short Stories by Joshua Scribner This is another set of short stories by Scribner. He is what could be called a science fiction/horror writer. Among the stories I read were Hell and Back about a man who is given the opportunity to see his punishment in hell if he joins a criminal organization as an enforcer. There was Within, a story about a woman who is haunted by an evil spirit contained in a doll which causes her to murder. There was the Safest Place, a story about a man who is fleeing others who want to kill him and how he must choose the abilities of a particular ocean animal to save him. Oklahoma Dust and Nothing Happened tell of ghosts, one of which entices someone to join it and the other seeks revenge for a perceived wrong. All of the stories are well written and are filled with suspense, even if they are a bit strange at times. Xerses by Jacob Abbott This is the story of the Persian emperor who tried to invade Greece with millions of his slave troops. He even has his engineers build a massive pontoon bridge over the Hellespont (the waterway that divides Asia from Europe). He then has the engineers dig a canal through a peninsula to aid the transport of this huge fleet. The army is first slowed at the pass of Thermopile by the famous Spartan 300. The fleet is then defeated at Salamis. The totally unexpected occurs: the Greeks are able to defeat the Persians and chase them back into Asia. The story ends with Xerses assassinated by a member of his own family, a deserved fate considering all the pain and suffering he brought to the Greeks and even the members of his own army and navy. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Ellicott City - St. Meinrad, IN - Ellicott City - Rome

July 16, 2012 Peace and Good, This past week I was attending a province assembly of the friars of one of the Midwestern provinces, Our Lady of Consolation. The topic was intercultural fraternity. There are already a number of friars working in intercultural communities here in the United States. The province has traditionally had ties with two entities that they founded: Zambia (which is a province) and Honduras (which is a custody, or a baby province). Furthermore, in these past few years, they have established joint projects with the custody of Mexico and with the province of India. Friars from each of those jurisdictions came to the assembly to share their experiences. There were speakers on the situation of the order, on the process of mentoring, and on intercultural dialog. We were at St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana which is really quite some place. There are about 50 monks, and there were another 60 or 70 of us. It is always good when the friars get together, and there was a wonderful spirit there. The last day, Thursday, we have a short extraordinary chapter. A chapter is a gathering of the friars, usually every four years. But, if there are extraordinary projects to approve, then the friars (or their delegates) gather together in between to make their decisions. There was a technical matter that had to be voted upon by the chapter, so that is what we did. That evening I headed back to Baltimore, and then on Friday evening back to Rome. This morning we began our definitory which will continue on until Saturday. A friar passed away in Romania who was one of the key people in re-establishing the order there. I knew him very well, and he died on Saturday. We had been told that his funeral was Wednesday, so I got permission and bought a ticket to go to the funeral, going there tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately, they changed the date of the funeral, and it is going to be tomorrow morning. There is only one flight a day, so I cannot be there. Not a lot I can do. As one of the friars said, you made the gesture of charity, and the Lord absolved you from having to carry it through. I really would have loved to be there though, for I know him since 1991 and he was the one who first invited me there. These are the book I have finished: The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper I expected to read a book that was basically similar to the story that was seen in the recent movie, but this book is quite different. The character Hawkeye is much more hidden, filled with native American wisdom. He constantly attacks the ways of the whites, including their religion. He is also filled with tremendous prejudice against native Americans other than the Mohicans with whom he has lived for a long while. We see the nobility of Chingachgook and his son. We see the evil of Magua. The taking of the fort seen in the film and the massacre of its refugees is repeated. The aftermath, however, is quite different. The two daughters of Munro are captured (twice actually). We see Uncas, the son of Chingachgook, take a role of leadership due to the fact that he belongs to the clan of the tortoise. The end turns out to be much more violent and sad than could have been filmed. Barbarosa: The Russian German Conflict 1941-1945 by Alan Clark This is the story of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and the battles fought between then and the end of the war. The book is very informative. It contains a large number of accounts for those who organized both the attack and the defense. The author argues that Hitler’s military decisions for most of the invasion were not all that bad, and in fact, possibly better than the strategy proposed by his generals. Clark shows how the invasion was a near miss, for the Soviet troops were all but defeated when they were able to pull it together at the last minute. Toussaint L’Ouverture: a Biography and Autobiography John Relly Beard This is a presentation of the life of the leader of the freed blacks who established Haiti as an independent nation at the beginning of the 19th century. This revolution was marked by incredible violence among the various parties involved: black slaves, those of mixed race, the rich whites and the poor whites. The presentation of Toussaint is one of a sainted figure who tried to reconcile the various warring parties and establish peace among the people, while never surrendering the liberation of his own black people from the bondage of slavery. I am not sure that he was quite as innocent as is presented, but it is clear that he was poorly treated first by the French Republic and then by Napoleon. The book was written as a type of apologia for blacks, showing that they could lead themselves and fight for their own rights. This message was intended for the US as much as for Haiti.

The Gospels and the psalms

September 3, 2010

Peace and Good,

This past week I have been in Mishawaka, Indiana. This is where we have our interprovince novitiate. The Conventual Franciscans have five provinces in the United States, and we collaborate on some levels of our formation of the new friars coming into the order.

Remember a couple of months ago I preached a retreat to the new novices. This week I gave them and a group of five sisters from the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist a workshop on the four Gospels (for our Franciscan life is based upon those Gospels) and the Psalms (which we pray throughout the day in our recitation of the Divine Office. The psalms especially can be difficult to understand, for they were written between two and three thousand years ago, and their symbolism can be very foreign to us today. Yet, as a Church, we are praying these psalms throughout the world. There is not a minute throughout the day or night that someone is not praying for the Church and for us. That can be a real consolation, especially for those who are in difficulty and for some reason cannot seem to pray for themselves (e.g. when they are depressed).

Tomorrow I head back to Ellicott City. I have a couple of days off, and then a series of meetings with various people and various medical and dental appointments (have to get them in while I am home).

I have finished a few works. The first was a book on tape called Simple Genius by David Baldacci. I like his writing, but this probably is not his best work. It is a story of the murder of a genius at a research center which lie next door to a CIA training facility. Not a bad read, just not the best.

The second book was a taped version of the Matarese Countdown. This is by Robert Ludlum. Normally, I love his writing, but once again, this was not his best work. I just had the feeling that he "phoned it in," giving a substandard performance because he knew that he could sell books just by his name being on the cover.

A third book, a history, was excellent. It is called Operation Mincemeat by7 Ben Macintyre. It is the story of a hoax which the British Secret Service put over on the Nazi's during World War II. The allies were getting ready to invade Sicily, and everyone knew it. They were afraid that the opposition of the Italians and Germans would be too intense. Someone came up with the idea of dropping a dead body in the sea with false documents that implied that the allies intended to invade Greece and Sardinia instead. They dropped the body off of Spain, knowing that even though Spain was neutral, they were really secretly collaborating with the Nazi's. There is a nerve wracking section where the Spanish find the body, but refuse to turn the documents over to the Nazi's. The British don't know what to do, because the last thing that they could do is apply too much pressure or the Spanish and Germans might think that the documents are false. Fortunately, they eventually turn them over and the Germans fall for the trick.

The following is my schedule for the next few weeks:

09/11/10 - 09/16/10 - Holy Rosary Cluster, Elma, IA 50628 p.o.c. Fr. Ray Atwood (Parish Mission)

09/18/10 - 09/23/10 - Sacred Heart, Newburgh, NY 12550 p.o.c. Sr. Mary McCarthy/Most Reverend Dominick J. Lagonegro (Parish Mission)

09/25/10 - 09/29/10 - St. John, the Apostle, Kingston, Ontario p.o.c. Fr. David Collins (Parish Mission)

10/02/10 - 10/06/10 - St. Raphael, Burlington, Ontario p.o.c. Fr. Maurice Richard (Parish Mission)

10/08/10 - 10/10/10 - Priestfield Retreat Center, Priestfield, WV p.o.c. Carolyn Protin (SFO Retreat)

10/14/10 - Dominican Retreat Center, McLean, VA 22101 p.o.c. Sr. Agnes (Evening for Married Couples)

10/15/10 - 10/17/10 - Dominican Retreat Center, McLean, VA 22101 p.o.c. Sr. Agnes (Men's Retreat)

10/22/10 - 10/26/10 - St. Julia Church, Siler City, NC 27344 p.o.c. Reverend James Fukes (Parish Mission)

11/06/10 - 11/11/10 - Sacred Heart, La Plata, MD 20646 p.o.c. Fr. Ron Potts (Parish Mission)

11/13/10 - 11/18/10 - St. Alphonsus, Wexford, PA 15090 p.o.c. Fr. Peter P. Murphy (Parish Mission)

God bless and Shalom,

fr. Jude

PS Please remember that we are seeking some money to print a translation of my articles as a book in India (in the native language of Kerala, the region where kthe friars are located). We need $3,000. If you can help in any way, please send your donation to Evangelization Office; 12290 Folly Quarter Rd; Ellicott City, MD 21042.