Saltpond, Ghana - Rome

March 8, 2021 Peace and Good, I finished my retreat in Saltpond. There were 16 friars on the retreat. We had to keep Covid restrictions, which included wearing masks (which in 95 degree heat was a challenge). The weather was hot, hot, hot. At the end of the month is the beginning of the rainy season so it should cool off a bit soon. The trip was filled with covid restrictions. Going and coming, I had to have five separate covid tests. There were tons of documents to fill out at every step along the way, some of which was never collected. Our trip to the airport was filled with a bit of tension. It is only about two and a half hours to get to the airport from Saltpond, but traffic was incredibly bad. It ended up taking about six hours. Then, at the airport, there was some question if they would let me travel. Fortunately, I had a letter inviting me to Rome by the Secretary General which did the trick. Getting into Rome was actually quite easy. I had filled out the right form and found the right table, and was through within a minute. I am in quarantine for a week or so. Then we will be going on retreat, and the week after we will have a definitory. After that, I head back to the States for the vaccine. I finished some reading: The History of Rome in 12 Buildings by Phillip Barlag This is a tour of some of the most important sites in Rome. It speaks about the history of the buildings and the Roman republic and empire. It is quite colloquial, but also for that reason enjoyable. Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe This is an audible book that I listened to about women who were pirates throughout the ages, from ancient times to the present day. The descriptions depend upon written testimony, which is often not available (both because pirates did not often receive a lot of coverage, and because women were not always taken into consideration). I had some difficulty with the story because the author tries to present pirates as heroes, even when they robbed and murdered. This is the worst of a feminist approach to the topic. The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson This is a short play of the relationship between Marie Curie and a British suffragette named Hertha Ayrton. Much of it deals with the way that Curie was treated when she was discovered to be committing adultery with a married man after the death of her husband Pierre. There is also a subplot dealing with the radium that she carries, and its effect on her health. (She would eventually die from the effects of the radium she had discovered.) Experiencing America: a Smithsonian Tour through American History by Richard Kurin This is a 24 session course on the history of the US, using objects preserved in the Smithsonian as starting points on each lesson. The presenter works at the Smithsonian, and he is quite good in the way that he handles the topic. It is not exactly an in depth presentation, but it was enjoyable. John C Fremont by Charles River Editors This is the story of the great explorer of passages through the Rocky Mountain. He also served as a general in the Civil War (Missouri and West Virginia) and he was not all that successful. He ran for president in the Republican Party in 1854. He also served as governor in various territories. For all of this, his wife Jesse was a much better politician than he. The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day This is an autobiographical presentation of some aspects of the life and work of Dorothy Day. It is very much centered on her ministry to the poor. As one reads it, one is impressed with her fervor, but one gets the feeling that one is only seeing the surface of who she was. Keep safe. fr. Jude

Buffalo - Toronto - Rome

January 7, 2012 Peace and Good, I hope you are all well. I spent the last week in Buffalo with my brother and sister-in-law. I had a good restful time, even if we all came down with the flu. (It seems as if it is going around Buffalo and many, many people have come down with it.) I had my flu shot earlier in the fall, but this seems to have been a variety that was not covered. My sister-in-law's dad also came down with it, and his heart was very compromised by earlier problems. He ended up in the hospital and passed away on the 2nd of January. Please keep Cassey and his family in your prayers. I headed back to Rome the evening of the 3rd, arriving late in the evening of the 4th. I had a very long layover at Heathrow in London due to a mix up in my tickets (my fault). By the time I got back to Rome, I was starting to get a relapse of the flu. I laid low the last couple of days, and this morning feel as if all is right again. This morning we begin our last definitory for the term. It is scheduled for the whole week, but I don't think it will last that long. Then two weeks from this past Saturday we meet in Rome. There will be over 100 of us from all around the world. We will be there for four weeks, reviewing the past six years, deciding who will lead the order for the next six years, and also deciding the major projects we should undertake to be more faithful to what we say we are. I have finished a few books: The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, her pirate adventurers and the dawn of empire by Susan Ronald This particular part of history has always bothered me. Why would Queen Elizabeth sponsor state terrorism. She purposely and secretly sent out pirate ships to prey upon the ships of the Spanish empire. This was especially true of the attempt to capture the treasure fleets that were bringing gold, silver and jewels from the New World. Spain was highly dependent upon these shipments in order to wage its wars against the Muslim world as well as many of their various enemies. Among the pirates there were John Hawkins, Martin Frobusher, Sir Walter Raleigh and Steven Dawson. These were not the ferocious pirates of a latter era, but they nevertheless did steal and ravage and destroy those in their way. Complicating the situation was the British attitude toward Ireland and how Elizabeth (like her predecessors) tried to control the wild tribes and practices of the island while they tried to destroy the Catholic presence there. Elizabeth comes across as brilliant but also capricious (changing her mind again and again at the last minute). She played up to her favorites, but she also sponsored the beginning of the British navy and the British empire. The book is well written and good history. The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold This is a very odd story about a woman (49 years old) who has recently been caring for her mother who has developed dementia. It turns out that the mother was mentally ill (including agoraphobia) and has been cared for by her husband (who committed suicide some years before) and her daughter for many, many years. The mother was never really a nice person, and the daughter had often daydreamed on how to murder her. As the book opens, the mother has soiled herself. As the daughter tries to clean her, she snaps and suffocates her mother. The rest of the book is what happens over the next day as first she and then her ex-husband and her daughter come to grips with what she has done and the eventual consequences of it. Most of the book is flashbacks to the woman’s life growing up in this very dysfunctional household. The book is in its own way both good and disturbing at the same time. Stalin’s Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith Smith is the author of Gorky Park. His hero, Arkady Renko, falls foul of the system toward the end of communism in that book. This story is about the period that follows communism. Stalin’s ghost is sited in a subway station. There is a question of whether something is really happening or whether his appearance is tied to a political campaign of a rightist candidate who was probably involved in war crimes during the war in Chechnya. Even though communism is over, many of the forms of behavior that were learned during that period still continue to control the government and the justice system. As with Gorky Park, the hero is very human with serious flaws, but he is a basically honest and decent person. This is a very good book. Hope you have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude