Assisi - Spoletto - Foligno - Assisi

January 27, 2013 Peace and Good, I am writing from Assisi where we have just completed our first week of the General Chapter. The first days of any chapter are dedicated to an evaluation of how things are going. We had reports from the Minister General and a good number of his collaborators. We had some long discussions in groups concerning what they reported and what we see. This week we pass to the elections of those who will lead the order for the next six years. I have been asked to preach the homilies at the Masses for the first two weeks. They asked me to try to tie the readings to what we are doing any particular day. I give the homily in English and Italian, and it has been translated in written form into the other two official languages of the order: Spanish and Polish. It is an incredible responsibility, because I am helping to set the tone of what we are doing in the chapter hall. So far it has gone very well, thank God. We took a field trip to Spoletto (the town where the Spoletto music festival is held every year) and Foligno (a city about 20 km from Assisi). They are beautiful medieval cities built on the hill sides (as are almost all of the cities in Umbria, this part of Italy. In Foligno we visited the Church where one of our blesseds, Blessed Angela of Foligno, is buried. We are hoping that she will soon be canonized, possibly even during this year of faith. I have finished these books: Mr. B. Gone by Clive Barker This is a typical Clive Barker work: strange and violent. It is the story of a minor demon , Jackabob Botch, who ends up being fished up onto the material world. He wanders around with one of his demon friends killing and doing evil deeds. The story seems almost cute such as C.S. Lewis’ version in the Screwtape Letters. But then in typical Clive Barker style, there are scenes of incredible, tasteless violence. This is the first book that I have ever read that begins with the character depicted in the book begging the reader to burn the book. It turns out that the character has been imprisoned in the book for hundreds of years, and he only wants to be liberated for his prison. Over and over again the demon begs, demands, threatens the reader to burn the book, even saying that he would kill the reader at the end if he doesn’t burn the book. There are moments in the book which are almost theological. Yet, it doesn’t reach the heights of a C.S. Lewis work. Glass House by Patrick Reinken This is a rather interesting book. It starts out with an episode occurring in a South African diamond mine. A man is trying to smuggle a pink diamond out, and he gets caught and is tortured to death. It is only later that one discovers whether he is a good man or a bad man. In the meantime, we hear the story of a woman lawyer who is asked to defend an executive of a security company who is accused of sexual harassment. It turns out that this is not the first time that he has been accused of this offense. The story develops quite well as one discovers the connection between this man and the diamond mines and war for control of other mines that is going on half a world away. The lawyer slowly discovers the truth about all of this and plots to exact true justice in the case. Gideon’s Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child I have read a couple of books written by this pair of authors about FBI agent Pendergast. This book is about an agent for a top secret private organization named Gideon Crew. He bears quite a similarity to Pendergast in his reasoning power and his ability to outsmart the most nefarious criminal mind. In this case, Crew is trying to intercept a Chinese scientist who is bringing the designs for what might be a powerful new weapon to the United States. There are various secret agents trying to get the same information, and Crew has to do battle against them and their designs by himself. It is quite good, but a bit contrived at points. I hope you have a good week. Please keep us in your prayers as we meet in Assisi for our General Chapter. Remember, if you have any intention you would likee me to remember at the tomb of St. Francis, simply e mail it to me at frajude@gmail.com. God bless and Shalom fr. Jude

Rome - Assisi

January 21, 2013 Peace and Good, Last week was a great opportunity to finish off the translating projects (which of course included a couple handed to me at the last minute) in preparation for the General Chapter. Then, I worked on daily reflections for the site, articles for one maganize from Padua, Italy, and also for another magazine from Manchester, England. I am caught up with all of them. Thursday and Friday were for multiple trips to the airport to meet the friars coming in for General Chapter. Friday was a little rough, six hours at the airport because one of the flights was four hours late (it was snowing in London). Everyone made it in. Saturday we travelled to Assisi. It is cold up here, and there is snow in the mountains, but not all that bad. Saturday evening we began the chapter. There are 90 provincials and delegates from all around the world. Sunday we had a big, big Mass, very high church (which means so much music that at times you began to wonder if it was a Mass or a concert). By taste, I am much more low Church, liking things to be very simple. But with big occasions like this, you have to put on the dog. This morning, Monday, we actually began the chapter. I am preaching for the first two weeks of the chapter, sort of a spiritual director. I am overwhelmed that they asked me to do this. I am setting the spiritual tone for this gathering, or at least the first half of it. I have finished a few books. (If you ever wondered how I could finish any books during one of those very busy weeks, I am still working off some of the backlog of books read in the past few months. Asylum Harbor by Traci Halbenstein A young woman on vacation with her friends disappears from their cruise boat. The father of this young woman is the governor of Florida and a candidate for the presidency. He calls in the FBI and Rachel, a tracker who had dedicated herself to finding lost children after the disappearance of her own child. There is a question of drug smuggling as well as white slavery. There is quite a bit of adventure and action. I wouldn’t classify the book as great – more like OK. Gone for Good by Harlan Coban I first became interested in this book because its hero is the director of Covenant House in New York. This is an apostolate for run away kids founded by one of our friars, Bruce Ritter, who most unfortunately ended his life in disgrace after a scandal involving both sexual abuse and incorrect use of money. His successor, by the way, was a Daughter of Charity who is now ill and probably dying at the daughter’s mother house. The hero speaks of the great care offered these damaged children. The story involves a series of murders which began with the strangling death of the hero’s ex-girlfriend, supposedly by the brother of the hero. He had run away or disappeared right after the murder and the family presumed that he was dead. There are tons of surprises in the book and you don’t really know what is going on until the end. It is well written and leaves you wondering. Articles of War by Nick Arvin A young man from the farmland in the mid-west, so innocent that he does not swear (and is thus nicknamed Heck because that is the strongest word he will use) ends up in Normandy shortly after the invasion. He is part of a replacement unit, and does not have an assignment for quite some time. While he is waiting, he meets a father along with his small son and his daughter. Later he is assigned, but traumatized during the shelling and sniping that he experiences his first night. He loses his unit and ends up falling into a shelled out building where he gets a bad cut. This ends him up in a recovery area where he waits again for an assignment. He even finds out that the daughter of the man whom he met is pregnant (although there is no chance the child is his, he still desperately loves her). When he is finally reassigned, he ends up in one of the most horrific battles of World War II: the Hertgen Forest. He thinks he is going mad. He raises his hand up above a barrier just so that he will be shot. He receives a minor wound, but must once again return to battle. He becomes part of the firing squad to execute Private Slovak, the only US solider executed during World War II for desertion. After the war he remains for a while in Europe with the occupying army for he feels lost and no longer knows where home or the truth are. He encounters the French family he once knew and finds out that the young lady he had fallen in love with has had a child (not his, but a German soldier’s due to a rape, at least this is what the father says). At the end of the story she leaves the child by his door asking him to care for it. It is a sad, poignant story of an innocent sent off to war and how it tears him apart and leaves him so confused. It is a book well worth reading. Have a good week, and please keep us in your prayers. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome

January 14, 2013 Peace and Good, I have been in Rome all this past week. We had a shorter definitory to take care of last minute preparations for our General Chapter which being this Saturday evening in Assisi. This week the delegates will begin arriving from all over the world to participate in this month long meeting to decide the future of the order for the next six years. Outside of the meeting, I have been working on some last minute translations from Italian into English. I have one more set of documents to finish later today and possibly tomorrow morning, and then I have to work on my homilies for the Chapter. I have been asked to be the preacher for the first two weeks of the chapter. That is quite a responsibility, for I will, in a sense, be setting the spiritual tone for the meeting. I did this once before when we had a Congress in Nairobi, and it went quite well that week. Please pray that the Spirit guide me in my reflections throughout these weeks. The weather here in Rome is cold and sometimes rainy. This is typical of Rome at this time of year. We only rarely have snow here, but winters are damp and cold. Yet, even now I can go out on our porch and see the roses in bloom. We received some great news from the States. I am a graduate of St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York. Two of its alumni were named General Managers for professional football teams this past week. St. Francis is not all that large a school, and to have two of its alumni reach this level of expertise is a real feather in the cap. I finished a few books: The Killing of Crazy Horse by Thomas Powers This is the story of the life and death of Crazy Horse, the Sioux who led the battle against Custer at the Little Big Horn. The book helps you to understand the Sioux culture and why they fought against the encroaching whites. Crazy Horse surrendered when it was obvious that he and his people could no longer fight against the power of the white army. He was assured over and over again that he would be protected and his people fed, but the promises were repeatedly broken (just as the treaty promises made by the US government had been broken over the previous decades). Ironically, it was not Crazy Horse’s white captors who killed him, but rather Native American rivals. When he was in the reservation, he was treated with great respect by the army officials. Other chiefs became jealous and spread untrue rumors about what he was plotting to do. This resulted in his being arrested and he was killed in the process. The book is a good example of history told in all its details and in an interesting way. Alcatraz: A Definitive History by Michael Esslinger The title of the book says it all. This is a history of the island that became a maximum security prison in the middle of the San Francisco bay. The first part of the book is how the island was first used as a military base and lighthouse, and then how it was used as a prison for the most incorrigible of prisoners. There is quite a bit of information about some of its famous prisoners (e.g. Al Capone). There is also a large section about the various attempted escapes from the island. The prison was eventually closed down because of its cost per prisoner (which was the highest in the federal prison system because everything, including fresh water, had to be brought in by boat from the mainland) and the fact that much of its superstructure was badly damaged by salt spray which corroded both iron and concrete. Charles I by Jacob Abbott This is one of Abbott’s short biographies. Charles was the son of James I, the first Stuart king of England and the successor of Elizabeth I. He was a high Anglican at a time when there were many pushing for more Calvinist reforms. He wanted to be an absolute king, but at a time when the Parliament refused to hand over that power to him. This eventually resulted in a civil war and his execution. His reign was followed by that of Oliver Cromwell, but his sons (James II and Charles II) eventually succeeded him. As with all of Abbott’s books, this one is informative without giving too much information on the topic. I’ll be heading up to Assisi this Saturday. I will be sure to remember your prayer intentions before the tomb of St. Francis. If you want to send any particular needs for which you would like me to pray, send them to my e mail address at frajude@gmail.com. Make sure you label them “prayer intentions” so that I will be able to see them right away. God bless and Shalom 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

Rome - Toronto - Buffalo - Baltimore

December 31, 2012 This is my second post for the day because I messed up and never posted the December 24th one until this morning. Christmas Day was nice and peaceful in Rome. The meals were incredible. The Italians go all out for their Christmas meals, and this year was no exception. The day after Christmas, Boxing Day, I travelled from Rome to Toronto. (It is called Boxing Day because in England the servants could not celebrate Christmas on December 25th because they were on duty. They got the next day off to open their Christmas boxes.) My brother Tom and sister-in-law Nadine picked me up at the Toronto airport and drove me to their home in Buffalo. Of course, it was snowing. We got about 12 inches that evening. We also all came down with the flu. It seems as if I am very healthy with all the travelling I am doing, but then when I slow down I get a cold or a flu. There must be some psychologial basis to that. The 30th I flew down to Baltimore to visit some good friends and I will fly back to Buffalo later this evening. (Thank God for frequent flyer tickets - the trip cost $5.) It has been good to get a week away before the beginning of our General Chapter. When I get back, we have one more week of Definitory, then a week off, and then it is time to go to Assisi. I finished a few books. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan This book is about the founding of the national forests and the opposition that Theodore Roosevelt received from the robber barons who wanted to be able to exploit its resources without any regulation. He created a huge forest system, but as soon as his chosen successor, President Taft, takes over, the system is systematically looted. This comes to an end with when there is an apocalyptic forest fire in 1910. An area the size of Connecticut burns and many, many people are killed. The fire was fanned by hurricane force winds. Town after town were burned to the ground. The fire became the clarion call to America to protect its resources. After this time, the forest service which was bound to protect the forests is taken more seriously. Unfortunately, the message which is learned is also flawed, for they adopt a zero tolerance policy on forest fires (which is not healthy to the forest for it allows the underbrush to accumulate instead of being periodically burned out). Up Country by Nelson Demille This was a truly excellent book. The hero is a retired army crimes investigator who is called back to investigate a possible murder that occurred over 30 years ago in Vietnam. The clues come from a letter from a North Vietnamese soldier to his brother in which he describes the murder by a US captain of a US lieutenant. The investigator must go to Vietnam and try to find this witness and find out what is happening. A woman helps him in the investigation and one wonders what are her motives. Likewise, everyone around the investigator is hiding something. There is plenty of action. The sex scenes are handled discretely (at least in the version I listened to). The picture of how Vietnam now runs is enlightening. I truly recommend this particular book. The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman This is another of the stories about a police force on the Navaho reservation. The hero of the story is Lt. Chi, and the elder wise man is Joe Leaphorn. A body is discovered upon a high sacred peak. It turns out to be a man who has been lost for the past ten years. There are questions of an inheritance of a ranch. In the meantime, there is a sub-story of a love affair between Lt. Chi and a lawyer, but there are complications for he is fully Navaho (which looks down upon ambition) and she is half Navaho but very ambitious for herself and for him. Furthermore, there is a cattle thief in the neighborhood. This series gives a great insight into the cultural difference between an anglo culture and a native American one. It is very enjoyable. Shalom fr. Juude

Rome - Assisi - Rome

December 24, 2012 Peace and Good, This past week we had our second last definitory for the term. We will have one more in January to take care of last minute details before the General Chapter which begins on January 19th. You can see the fatigue in the faces of all of the definitors. This has been a long haul, and we are reaching the end of the journey. I am always fascinated how we can discuss the situation of the friars in so many different lands. This time, from what I can remember, we discussed Chile, Columbia, Brazil, US, Poland, Italy, Belgium, Holland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, China, Philippines, Japan, Zambia and Ghana. That is from what I can remember. On Friday I took a train up to Assisi to visit a couple of friends and get some prayer time in before our chapter begins. Once it begins, there will be an awful lot of business to take care of. Assisi is quite a bit bolder than Rome and it has less sunlight because of a winter fog that covers it for days on end. I had an interesting incident while I was there. I was praying in the Basilica of St. Clare before the San Damiano Cross, the cross which spoke to St. Francis telling him to rebuild the church. When I finished, I walked out into the main body of the church and realized that the sisters had locked me in during the lunch break. Fortunately there were still a couple of sisters in the church to let me out. I came back to Rome yesterday evening, and I will be here for the Christmas celebrations. Then the day after Christmas I will fly out to Toronto to visit family and friends. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I have finished these books: Horror and C..p: 11 Short Stories by Joshua Scribner Joshua Scribner is a very creative science fiction, horror author. This is a series of eleven very short stories, each not more than a couple of pages long. Some of the themes covered are when a group of goblins torments a couple in their new home. A neighbor comes over and explains that the goblins are only hungry and since the toilet is blocked, they are starving for their usual fare (fill in the blank). In another, a man has a switch given to him by his psychiatrist to turn on and off his impulse to smoke. Little does he know that the switch is also connected to his wife’s impulse to murder him. One very short selection has a couple arguing whether they should tell others about a tsunami that is approaching. It turns out the couple are cats, and they abandon their family for higher ground. Each of the stories comes across as a short “Outer Limits” selection. His writing is always entertaining, if not a bit strange. Tudor Rose: The Story of the Queen who United a Kingdom and Birthed a Dynasty by Margaret Campbell Barnes This is the story of Elizabeth of York, the daughter of King Edward who dies early after a dissipated life. She is the niece of King Richard III who kills her two young brothers and then seems to want to marry her after his son and his own wife die. She eventually marries Henry VII who conquers the kingdom with a very poor claim for the monarchy other than conquest. Henry is the founder of the Tudor dynasty. He is not the warmest of men, more like a calculating machine. Yet Elizabeth remains a faithful wife. She is the mother of Arthur who died before he reigned and of Henry VIII. This is a fictional historical account which is quite good. The Eagle has Landed (Liam Devlin) by Jack Higgins I have come to like this author. He tells a very good tale. This is a story that takes place during the Second World War. Hitler has challenged the army intelligence to be as creative in their efforts as his special forces were when they rescued Mussolini from a mountain top prison. A plot is launched to capture or kill Churchill when he visits a small town in northern England along the coast. One of Germany’s few spies, an elderly Boer woman who is still angry at England for conquering her people in South Africa, is spying for the Nazis. An IRA agent is sent in to help her in the plans. The commandos arrive and all heck breaks out. The book is written with more sympathy, at times, for the Germans and the IRA agent than for the allies. It reminds us that not all Germans were Nazi monsters (although it makes clear that some were). Likewise, it reminds us that not all of the allied troops were knights in shining armor. It is a very good book. I have to apologize that this is late. I had written it on Christmas Eve, but I forgot to post it until today. Yesterday a couple of friends pointed out that there had been no posting since December 17th. I was so confused because I remember writing this. It was only last night that I put two and two together. Have a great New Years. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome

December 17, 2012 Peace and Good, I hope that all is well with you. This has been a quiet week at home working over a laptop. I had about 130 pages (single spaced, for the most part) of documents to translate from Italian for our General Chapter. The work went better than I had expected. It is all done, and another friar, Peter Damian, our guardian, had the job of putting all the material in the right format. That has all been done as well. So now it looks as we are ready for the Chapter, at least in terms of documents. This week we will be meeting in our usual Definitory. We will certainly take care of last minute details for our meeting in mid-January in Assisi. There are some other details to take care of for various provinces, but not all that much on the agenda. However, all week has been scheduled, and it remarkable that material tends to expand to fill in the time available. I will be here in Rome for Christmas Day and then am flying back to Toronto on Boxing Day (December 26th). It is called boxing day because in Victorian Britain, the servants had to take care of the needs of their Lords on Christmas Day. They were given the next day, the 26th off, to open their Christmas boxes. I will spend the next week or so in Buffalo (with a quick two day trip down to Baltimore to visit friends and take care of some business). I am shocked and hurt like all of us over what happened in Connecticut. We just have to something about out gun laws. I understand hunting and even some weapons for defense, but our laws are way too lax. You don’t need an assault rifle to shoot a deer. I feel so bad for the families affected. Let’s keep them all in our prayers. I finished a few books: Typee by Herman Melville The story begins with the escape of two sailors from their whaling vessel while on a visit to the Marchese Islands. Their captain had been a tyrant, and they were not willing to continue to serve under him. The difficulty is that the Marchese chain was not entirely civilized. It had only recently been claimed by the French, who in the style of most colonizing groups proved almost if not more savage than the natives. Furthermore, there was a group of natives on the island who were famed as cannibals. The author finds himself among the Typee, that cannibal group, along with a companion who runs away with him, but then also abandons him in the Typee village. One hears about their customs (e.g. making of cloth from the fiber in plants, the making of their foods, etc.) One hears an honest account of their daily life and their religion. One has to remember that this is being written in the early 19th century, and it probably served as a travel adventure for readers of that time. He is quite negative to the way that some missionaries had destroyed the cultures of certain islands, especially attacking the hypocrisy of some of the missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands. He finally escapes his captors who turn out truly to have been cannibals. It is quite entertaining. Ultimate Punishment by Scott Turrow Scott Turrow, in addition to being an author, is also a lawyer. He served both as a federal assistant attorney and a defense attorney. In the 1990’s, he was asked to serve on a commission formed by Governor Ryan of Illinois to make sure that the death penalty of that state was more accurate and fair. In recent years, 17 of those who had been convicted and sentenced to the death penalty were later found to be innocent. By this, I do not mean that their sentences were reduced or there was some doubt. They were irrevocably found innocent because someone else was found guilty of the same crime. How could someone be put to death when there was the possibility that he or she was innocent? Turrow was not against the death penalty when he entered into the dialog. He recognizes the arguments for and against. Could the process be fine-tuned so that the death penalty could be fairer? He asks whether it is a deterrent (studies show that it is not). Is it cheaper than holding someone for life imprisonment (because of the court costs in a death penalty case, it is not). Does it help society to recognize the horrific nature of murder (it does as long as everyone executed is fully guilty). The commission eventually developed a whole series of recommendations but the legislature was afraid the enact them. Eventually Governor Ryan put a moratorium upon capital punishment in the state, pardoned a few prisoners who were clearly innocent, and commuted the rest of the capital cases to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The book is a good reflection on the subject. Turrow doesn’t argue one side or another. He just outlines the problems and some possible (but often politically impossible) solutions. Thirteen Diamonds (Lillian Morgan) by Alan Cook This is the second of the Lillian Morgan books that I have read. She is a retired math professor living in a complex for the elderly in North Carolina. One of the people with whom she is playing bridge drops dead after getting a perfect hand, thirteen diamonds. She investigates the death with the idea that she believes that it was a murder. The man who died was allergic to shell fish, and it was someone included in a tuna casserole that was served just before that hand was dealt. The dialog is good and the action is both believable and funny. I am not sure that the author has the thoughts and actions of older folk down perfectly, but he does a creditable job. This was just a fun read. I hope your last week before Christmas is peaceful. Shalom Fr. Jude