London - Baltimore - Los Angeles

July 8, 2013 Peace and Good, I have been in California this week for a meeting of the friars of St. Joseph Cupertino Province. They have their provincial chapter in about a year, and this was a preliminary meeting to start surfacing topics that should be examined throughout this year and at the coming chapter. My arrival was a bit difficult. Last Saturday in Canterbury I noticed that it seemed as if my travel agent had made a reservation for my trip from Baltimore to Los Angeles, but he had never bought a ticket. There was no way to communicate with him over the weekend, so I e mailed him in Rome hoping that he would see the e mail first thing Monday morning and get back to me immediately. With the difference in time which is six hours, I was sure I would hear from him by 4 in the morning on Monday. Sure enough, he had forgotten. So I immediately checked out Southwest and was able to get a ticket which actually was a shorter flight (since it was a direct). It was important for me to be at the meetings this week. The provincial of the province has been ill for a while, and my presence signified our concern for the province. Also, whenever I am at one of these meetings, I am able to answer questions about what is going on in the order all throughout the world. It helps the friars not become too provincial minded. I celebrated one of the weekend masses and mass this morning in the parish where I am staying. It is great to be able to be with the people on occasions like this because so much of what I do is with the friars exclusively. Tomorrow I head out for Chicago for a couple of short meetings and a couple of celebrations at which I must be present. I booked in a couple of extra days here in Los Angeles and in Chicago to unwind a bit. I got to visit my brother and sister in law and niece on Saturday in Fullerton, about an hour from where I am staying. I finished some books: White Eagle, Red Star by Norman Davies This is one of a series of books that Norman Davies has written about Poland. This volume deals with the period right after World War I when Poland regained its independence. Shortly after that, a war broke out between Poland and the Soviet Union. It began over ownership of some of the borderlands between the two countries. Those areas had a very mixed population, and at one time in history they had belonged to Poland (before the partitions under Catherine the Great). Poland attacked first, and when the Soviets counterattacked, they pushed the Polish forces back all the way to the outskirts of Warsaw. There was a battle there called the “miracle on the Vistula” in which the Poles were completely triumphant, both for themselves and Western Europe (for the Soviets might very well have pushed on into Germany and beyond if they had defeated Poland). The book is good, but not an especially easy read. It is more technical history than a novel. Odd Hours: An Odd Thomas Novel by Dean Koontz Odd Thomas is an interesting character invented by Dean Koontz. He can see ghosts and help them to go to the other side. He has a type of psychic magnetism in which, if he thinks of someone, is eventually drawn to that person. He is an innocent in a difficult and sometimes evil world. In fact, his adventures are part of the battle between good and evil. In this story, Odd comes to a seaside California town where there is a plot of import nuclear weapons which will be used for terrorist events in several US cities. He foils the plot with the help of Annamaria, a young pregnant woman who has psychic powers as well. There is a goodness to this character. His goal in life is to do what is expected of him so that he might spend eternity in heaven with his beloved Stormy who died in a shooting in a mall. I never read one of these volumes with feeling moved by the whole set up. I strongly recommend this series to anyone who is interested. The Queen’s Fool by Philippa Gregory Gregory has written a series of books that are placed in the Tudor era of England. This one is about a young Jewish girl who fled Spain with her father when her mother was burned at the stake during the Inquisition. They are printers, and they pretend to be Christians. The girl, Hanna, has the gift of seeing the future, although not often. She is placed as a holy fool in the court of the King (Edward VI) and the queen (Queen Mary) while she is also a confidant of Princess Elizabeth. The portrayal of the royal characters is quite good. She is honest both about their strengths and flaws. The portrait of Hanna is interesting as she learns about love and forgiveness. I enjoyed the book. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome - Assisi - Rome

March 26, 2013 Peace and Good, I have been in Rome all this past week with the exception of yesterday when I took a day trip up to Assisi. This week has been a good week to catch up on daily reflections. Once in a while I wonder whether anyone is listening to them, but every time that I am about to give up on them, two or three people come to me out of the blue and tell me that they often listen to them. I take that as a sign of the Holy Spirit that I should continue working on this project. The weather in Rome has been quite cold, but there are signs of Spring in the air. Many of the Spring flowering trees are already in bloom. I hope we have a nice, warm Easter Sunday. The Pope continues to be a hit. He does not have to do great things. He only has to be himself, and everyone falls in love with him and his style. Yesterday I was at Assisi for a small celebration for the Custos who finished his four year mandate and for the new Custos. This is an assignment made by the General Definitory. We thought about this one for a long time. The previous Custos was doing a good job, but he was better at continuing what was rather than trying something new. We just felt that it was time for a new leader there to guide the friars to continue to examine their lives and try to do a better job at what they are doing. This week I will be in Rome, and then Easter Monday I will be on the road again, this time for a month. I have finished a few books: Rebel by Bernard Cornwell This is a book about a young man who runs away from his family to have a fling with a loose woman. He ends up on the wrong side of the border just as the civil war is beginning. He signs up to fight for the south, even though his father is a famous abolitionist preacher. The leader of the regiment is a rich landlord who organizes the regiment for his own glory. The young man, Nate, come to learn who he is and what he wants though a series of adventures. Some unlikely figures turn out to be much more heroic than those who touted their courage before the battle. The book goes up to the first battle of Bull Run. Overall, I was a little disappointed in this book. It thought it would be a more realistic portrait of the story. Rather, it was in the style of literature of Henty, a 19th century author who wrote books for the edification of young Englishmen to teach them how to act as virtuous conquerors of the world. It had the same feel, especially in certain scenes dealing with the violence of war. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky And this is exactly what this book is all about. Kurlansky has written a series of book like this that cover one produce and how it is produced and used. I previously read his book on cod. He is a good author who piles on facts both interesting and not so. He speak about the history of salt production and how the presence or absence of salt influenced the history of certain areas. A good example of this is how the northern armies during the Civil War consistently tried to destroy the salt works in the south as one way of forcing them to surrender. One of those area attacked was Avery Island in Louisiana. This place is important because right after the war its owner decided to grow peppers from Central America and to make a sauce from them which we today call Tobasco sauce. He speak of how salt was used to produce long lasting foods when there were few other ways of preserving it, e.g. anchovies, sauerkraut, hams, etc. He speaks of how its use it either considered to be healthy or unhealthy. It is a good book, filled with trivia (which I like). One example is ketchup was originally the name given to a fish sauce, and only gradually came to be applied to the tomato sauce that we know as ketchup today. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory This is a very interesting book. It is the story of Mary, Queen of the Scots and her imprisonment in England before her death. The story is told in three voices: Mary, Lord Talbot who is her “host”, and Talbot’s wife Bess. Mary is sweet and beautiful and one of the most manipulative people who ever lived. (She learned much of her deviousness in France where she grew up at the French court, becoming the Queen of France for a short time (for her husband died a year after taking the throne). Talbot is a man of honor, faithful to whatever monarch rules in England, but a bit of a fool. Bess is his businesswoman wife. She thinks only of her possessions and especially of her property. She was poor as a child, and she strives never to fall back into poverty again. This is the kind of book that it is good to know a little of the background material, the historic background to be able to follow the story better. The three characters are not exactly likeable, but they are very, very real. Gregory has done a good job with the story. I hope you have a good Holy Week. Shalom fr. Jude