Last Mission of the Year

December 17, 2009

Peace and Good,

I just concluded my last mission of the year at St. George's Parish in Valley Lee, MD. This is in southern Maryland, and the spirit down there is quite different from Ellicott City. Most of the people who live in this area are from somewhere else. That is not true of southern Maryland. It is farm country and also closely tied to the Bay and water culture. The people were very friendly and more laid back than those of us who live close to the beltway.

The theme was on Advent. The first day I spoke on the early prophecies of the Messiah (in Genesis, Numbers, etc.). These prophecies were not, for the most part, explicitly about the Messiah, but they did point toward the goal that God had in mind for us. They also speak about how that goal was deferred by our sin, but how God will make it good for us again. The second day I spoke about the later prophecies, especially those in Isaiah and Micah. I mentioned how the prophets were speaking for their own days, but the Holy Spirit had much more in mind for what they were saying. The exceptions to this are the Songs of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah and Psalm 22 which are so explicit and fit the sufferings and death of Jesus so well that one would almost swear that they were written after Jesus' death (but they clearly weren't). The third day, which included a penance service, I spoke of the Infancy Narrative in the Gospel of Matthew, and then on the fourth day which included a healing Mass, I spoke of the Infancy Narrative in the Gospel of Luke.

I tried a new dish that I had never eaten: fried oysters. They were great! The parishioners kept myself and Msgr. Carl well fed all week long.

This coming week I will spend a few days in Buffalo visiting family and then in Pittsburgh for the Baptism of my great-niece.

I finished listening to one set of CD's. The book was called Justinian's Flea by William Rosen. It deals with the reign of one of the best emperors of the Byzantine Empire and how much of what he was trying to do came to naught because of an outbreak of Bubonic Plague. You really have to like history to be interested in this book. It is heavy both on historic detail (with many digressions) and scientific information about plague.

Here is an outline of by calendar for the coming month. I will keep giving you the update as I can.

01/03/10 - 01/07/10: St. Patrick's Seminary, Menlo Park, CA - Seminarian Retreat

01/08/10 - 01/14/10: Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Little Falls, MN - Sisters' Retreat

01/16/10 - 01/20/10: St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Spring, Hill, FL - Parish Mission

01/23/10 - 01/28/10: St. Gregory Catholic Church, Plantation, FL - Parish Mission

God bless and
Shalom

fr. Jude

P.S. Merry Christmas!

Missions and Talks

December 11, 2009

Peace and Good,

All is well. Sorry that I am a little late in posting the blog this week, but I was working hard on the CD project for the Psalms workshop. I finished it last night. It ended up with six CD's and I am very pleased with how it turned out. If you want to order it, just e mail me at frajude@juno.com. It will cost $30 but I am not sure how much postage will be.

I preached a mission in St. Francis Parish in Vista, CA. It is in the San Diego diocese, not far from San Marcos where I gave a mission in October. The themes I developed were how we are called to the dignity of the children of God through our prayer (sharing in God's work of recreating the world in God's image) through our service of the broken and difficult people of this world. I spoke of how we damage that relationship with our addictions to things and attitudes. The last morning I gave a talk on some of the aspects of the Infancy narratives in Luke and Matthew. That afternoon and evening I helped with the two Advent penance services in the parish. The parish itself is quite large with large Anglo and Spanish elements along with a good sized Vietnamese contingent. They are especially committed to serving the poor (which is witnessed in the number of homeless who sleep on the grounds each evening).

On Sunday, I celebrated Mass in the morning with a lay run community in Relay. It is always like going back home when I am with them. In the evening I gave a talk on the Book of Genesis at St. Timothy parish in Walkersville, MD - about an hour away. On the evening of the 8th I gave a talk on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception here at the friary (I taped it and will have it out on CD sometime after Christmas). On Wednesday, I had a talk on the Infancy Narrative in Luke with the scripture sharing group at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Bethesda, MD, and a talk on the Psalms at Resurrection Parish in Ellicott City.

I have some great news. I had put out an all call to ask for help to get to Ghana this coming June. A very generous couple have given me a free ticket with their air miles program. I am so grateful to them. If anyone wants to send some help for this trip (incidental costs) or other trips to mission countries, we are setting up a small fund to help out with these needs.

I finished a couple of CD books. The first is The Glory of it All by Sean Wilsey. It was a difficult listen. It is about a boy whose parents break up. They are incredibly self absorbed. The new step mother is described as being a witch to the boy. He gets into all kinds of self-destructive activity, pretty much messing up his life until he is sent to a rescue program in Italy to bring him around. It shows what happens to children when parents are too absorbed with their own activities and lives.

The second book was Next by Michael Crichton. It is a book about genetic tinkering and shows some of the possible consequences of bad choices made by individuals and companies.

I also finished a spiritual reading book: Experience the Mystery: Pastoral Possibilities for Christian Mystagogy by David Regan. The book comes across like a doctoral thesis that is somewhat reworked to make it a little easier to read. His theses is that we need a way to invite people into the mystery of our Catholic Christian life in a holistic manner (and not just intellectually). He used the example of small faith sharing groups (base communities) in Latin America. The book offers some good insights, but it doesn't offer enough practical applications.

I will be in Valley Lee, MD this week for an Advent mission. In the future, I will post some of my future assignments on this site so if anyone wants to catch me in a site near your home, you will know in advance (I'll try to keep it a month ahead).

God Bless and
Shalom

fr. Jude

A Week at Home

Peace and Good,

December 2, 2009

This past week has been a good time at home. I had the two periods of recollection at the weekend. Throughout the week there was a series of meetings with the community (it is called a house chapter at which we discuss what is going on in the friary and what our future plans are) and with my spiritual directees. (I do not do too much spiritual direction because I am on the road so often, but there are a few people on my dance card.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful, peaceful time at home. Br. Gerry cooked the meal, and he is an excellent cook. The meal included the Baltimore favorite of sauerkraut with the turkey. When I first heard about that dish, I thought that they were kidding. I have never run across it anywhere else on my journeys.

I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. For me it is a family meal where everyone goes out of the way to be kind and welcoming. It is not commercial like so many of the other holidays.

I finished one book: The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara. It is a historic novel telling the story of D Day. Jeff Shaara's father wrote Killer Angels about the Battle of Gettysburg, and he has followed his father's example. It is good reading (not too heavy or too scholarly).

I am back in San Diego this week for another mission, at a parish north of the city called Vista.

Work continues on the psalms' CD's. There are three done, and that is about half way through.

I am still begging for assistance with my trip to Ghana this coming June. As I mentioned last week, it will cost about $2,100 for the plane ticket, and the seminary where I am going cannot afford the cost. Is there anyone out there who could help? If so, please send your contribution to me at 12290 Folly Quarter Road; Ellicott City, MD 21042.

God bless and
Shalom

fr. Jude

The Eucharist: Model of Catholic Life

November 24, 2009

Peace and Good,

This past week I was out in San Diego again at our Mother of Confidence. The retreat was on the Eucharist as the model of Catholic life. Sunday night I spoke about the Eucharist in general. Monday I presented the vertical dimension of the Eucharist (that it really is the body and blood of Christ). Tuesday was the horizontal dimension (that we must form communion with each other). Wednesday, I spoke about the missionary dimension of the Eucharist (that we are called to share the faith with others). The morning sessions were on the Gospel of Luke which we shall use this coming year in the liturgy. The parish was welcoming, as were the two priest there: Msgr Sheahan and a 90 year old priest who lives there, Fr. Hopkins. The latter is incredible for his willingness to help and serve, even if his eyesight is very poor.

I flew home on Thursday and then Friday morning drove out to the Dominican Retreat House in McLean, VA. I gave a workshop on the theme of suffering, drawn from the book I wrote called I Cry to You, O Lord. Then in the evening I started a weekend of recollection on the theme that the retreat house is using this year: Behold, I make all things new. There were two major talks and three homilies. Most of the retreat was silent. The spirit of the group was very peaceful, even as most of them were discerning major moments in their lives.

I am slowly working on the psalms CD's, but it is still going to take quite some time to finish that project.

I finished three books this week. The first was Fields of Battle: the Wars for North America by John Keegan. I had read another book by him a couple of months ago. He is very good, and this particular book is unusual. It is about some of the major turmoils that defined the nation, but it also include many of his own remembrances when he visited those sites. It was a cross between a war book and a travelogue.

I finished Eleanor of Aquitaine by Desmond Seward. What a woman! If you don't know enough about her, she is worth studying. One of her major projects was to fund a monastery for women which became a refuge for "fallen" women and battered women of her time. She plotted, conspired, connived, etc. She was the mother of Richard the Lion Hearted, and the wife of both the King of France and then Henry II, the king of England. (You might remember the film Lion in Winter about her and Henry).

The third book was my spiritual reading: The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey. He is evangelical, so his scholarship about the history of some of the books of the Bible falls short, but his insights into faith and God's intentions and human response is right on. I took one quote from the book from the writings of CS Lewis: There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every split second, every square inch of it is claimed by God and counter claimed by Satan. It speaks of the battle between good and evil that is most often fought in the most mundane of places and situation. Every choice has cosmic consequences.

I have a request for those of you who read this blog. I have been asked to go to Ghana to give a retreat for some diocesan seminarians. Normally, people who invite me must pay for my trip, but this country is much too poor. Furthermore, the province which has paid for many trips in the past just can't afford it this time. Can any of you help out. The plane ticket alone is going to cost over $2,000. If you can, could you mail whatever you can afford to Fr. Jude; 12290 Folly Quarter Road; Ellicott City, MD 21042. Thank you for considering this request.

God bless and have a Good Thanksgiving.

Shalom

fr. Jude

Boston Mission

November 17, 2009

The Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Peace and Good,

All goes well on the western front. This week I am in San Diego giving a parish mission, but last week I was in Lynnfield, MA, giving a mission at our Lady's Parish.

The morning and the evening talks were different, which I actually like a little better. I used the themes that I had developed for Fredericksburg for the morning: St. Paul in Scripture, St. Peter in Scripture, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Scripture, and Abraham and Sarah in Scripture.

The evenings were an overview of the themes in the Book of Revelation. Both morning and evening we had a great turn out. I was very pleased with the way it went.

I am working on the psalms classes CD's. The first one should be done shortly. It can take about three hours of editing for each hour of tape, so this is a long and drawn out process.

I am also back to the translating project. So far, so good.

I finished a series of lectures entitled Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle by Robert Bartlett. These were CD's prepared by the teaching company. I did my philosophy courses so many years ago that it was about time that I review some of the ideas in this CD's.

I also finished a book entitles the Renaissance Popes by Gerard Noel. If this book didn't make me lose my faith, then nothing ever will. The real purpose of the book was to present Alexander VI, the Borgia Pope (as in the father of Caesare and Lucricia Borgia) as not as bad as some would say. The problem is that he was plenty bad. (Not that most of the popes in his era were that much better.) Even Catholic authors considered him to be so bad that they called him the antichrist (which, of course, the Protestant reformers immediately picked up upon and used against him and the other popes down to the present days). This book reminded me of the writings of Boccacio who spoke of a Jewish gentleman who wanted to travel from Florence to Rome of convert during the Middle Ages. His friends all tried to talk him out of it because they knew the terrible things he would encounter in Rome. Yet, he went and then returned. He told them he went through with the conversion. They asked him if he had not seen all of those terrible things, and he responded that he had. Now, they were mystified and asked him why he had still converted. His answer is that if all those things could be going on and still the Church continues, then the Holy Spirit must be behind it.

God bless and

Shalom

fr. Jude

Studying the Psalms

November 11, 2009

Peace and Good,

This past week I was home in Ellicott City. I gave a series of talks on the psalms. We had two identical sessions for each talk, in the PM and in the following AM, beginning with Monday evening and ending with Friday morning. I was very pleased with the way that the talks turned out.

The first day we looked at the psalms in general and the wisdom psalms (those which speak about the good life and how to live it). The second day we looked at lamentations, both individual and communal. That is the largest category in the psalter. I paid special attention to Psalm 22. That one fascinates me, because when you read it, you would swear it was written especially for the passion of Jesus, and yet it was written many hundreds of years before. I emphasized that since almost all individual lamentations end with a thanksgiving (called a todah in Hebrew), then Jesus' words, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me," are the introduction to a psalm that ends with a profession of faith that God would intervene. The third day we looked at psalms of trust and hope, including most people's favorite, Psalm 23. I compare that psalm to the song in the Sound of Music about raindrops on roses and warm woolen mittens. It is a series of pleasant images to remind us that we can trust in God. The last day we looked at Messianic psalms, royal psalms and songs of Zion. Psalm 45 is my favorite. It was written for the wedding of a king of Israel, Ahab, and his foreign wife, Jezebel. Yet, hundreds of years later, it was used by the early Christians as a psalm that foretold the wedding of Christ with the Church. God does truly write straight with crooked lines.

I taped all of these talks and will be editing them over the next few months. If you would like a notice when they are ready, drop at line at my e mail address, frajude@juno.com.

I finished reading a second work by St. Augustine, the Enchiridion. It is about faith, hope, and charity, and it uses the Creed and the Our Father as its starting point. The thing that fascinated me is that I was able to see how Augustine seems to have gotten caught up a bit in the whole question of predestination. It is almost as if God had decided who would go to heaven and who would go to hell. You can see where the reformers such as Calvin drew their ideas when you read Augustine's writings. I have to believe that God intends all of us to be saved, yet he has given us freedom to decide for ourselves. I am sure it breaks God's heart if one of his children chooses the wrong path, but love cannot be forced.


I also finished listening to a book on CD called Leviathan by Eric Jay Dolan. I thought it was going to be about whales, but it was about whaling. Nevertheless, it was interesting to read about the harrowing journeys and adventures of those who went to sea in this enterprise.

I am in a parish in Lynnfield, MA, near Boston, this week.

God bless and
Shalom,

fr. Jude

A New Parish Grows

November 3, 2009

Peace and Good,

This past week I was down in Fredericksburg, VA. I had given a mission at St. Jude Parish there five years ago. At that time, they had just moved from a funeral parlor to a facility in a strip mall (they are in a remodeled gym). The parish was just starting to take off.

It has grown by leaps and bounds. They are ready to begin the process of building a Church. The whole area is all but unrecognizable with all the building that has gone on. It is a commuter area for people who work in Washington D.C. (although it is some 40 miles away and the commute is a bear on interstate 95).

The sessions in the evening were centered on the Gospels, one night for each Gospel. In the morning, the sessions were on various people of the Bible: Mary, Peter, Paul, and Abraham and Sarah. As is common in my missions, the morning sessions were a bit more informal (as we drank coffee and ate some of the baked goods) while the evening sessions were a bit more formal.

The evening sessions were interrupted on Wednesday for the confirmation of the parish youth. There were over 20 confirmed, and the ceremony was incredibly well prepared. The bishop was great. He is one of the military bishops, Bishop Richard Higgins. (It was everything I could do not to call him Henry Higgins in the Eucharistic Prayer.) He knew exactly how to speak to the young people. He asked of them a promise of listening to God's call at least five minutes a day, a great idea for all of us.

I got to see the center of Fredericksburg this time (very nice and quaint) and saw the battle field ( I am a Civil War buff). Usually, when I travel, I don't like to see that many things because I am already overwhelmed with new things. Yet, this was well worth it.

I am at home this week giving a series of talks on the psalms. I am taping the talks (four of them of two hours each), so I hope to have the CD's available sometime around Christmas. I haven't finished any books, largely because I am reading about seven all at the same time. I guess I get bored easily, so I need to read a little bit from each one when I feel like it.

Today is my mom's birthday. It has been three years since mom and dad passed away in a car accident. Please keep them and my brother Gil (who died shortly before them) in your prayers.

God bless and

Shalom
fr. Jude