Lenten readings

Caravaggio oddly included Samson drinking from the ass' jaw among his symbols of the works of mercy in his Our Lady of Mercy work. I find his parents to be the inspiring ones. As exaggerated as some of the feats in Judges may seem it's been suggested that Joshua is an example of history written by the victors, Judges a more realistic history of Israel's gradual establishment in Palestine. A book by a Jewish expert that I read some years ago (The Prophets: Who They Were, What They Were, Norman Podhoretz 2002) claimed that the Book of Judges was the oldest piece of salvation history and that the Song of Deborah was the first part of scripture to be written.

Whatever of that, the long match that we experience these days amidst an often lukewarm people-of-God makes Judges well worth considering these days. I always find Gideon inspirational. His origin story is similar to Samson- an angelic visit, but to himself rather than his mother, and a particular quest. The deliberate depletion of his army by God is a bit more unique. From memory Fulton Sheen preached on this once.

I've been reading a much-advertised book I got from s secular store (Greg Sheridan, Christians, The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World 2021). It's rather 'bitty', largely boring one might say, but one chapter concentrates on the current example of witness of three Christians, two Catholic and one New Zealander who has changed from one or another protestant denomination through the years and is now a chaplaincy organiser.
One of the Catholic ladies seems to be slightly older than me, perhaps the last of a realistically convent-educated generation (she considered joining) married with children, founder and overseer of several schools in Africa. The second is a typical Australian traditional young lady of a few generations younger,a graduate of Campion College (connected with decreased Fr Stenhouse, who Mr Maolsheachlann often wrote for); what exactly she does is hard to define, but she basically goes to night spots and saves teenagers from themselves. Even in the 2020s there are religious sisters involved- two communities pray for her apostolate and provide chapels for retreats, but one can see, especially if reading more about saints during Lent, many being religious founders or at least consecrated persons, the contrast from the sense of vocation that existed into the 1960s when hospitals, schools and higher education institutes,institutions for the homeless and parent-less, were staffed by hundreds of men and women- mostly women- totally consecrated to God, the Church and celibacy- no-one is suggested anything here about greater holiness or whether it was all superior to our times, but the difference factually exists.

On one end of opinion, many will claim that the Holy Spirit wanted and inspired the Council for this; others will see the dismantling of former ways as evil.
Gideon's example is important here. The Catholic Church may not have been asked to metaphorically send away it's army, but lap the water they have and it's the reality that we've been left to plod along with.

Among other things I am reading a story from Paris of the late 1930s by Catholic novelist Bruce Marshall. This one was published 1943, entitled Yellow Tapers for Paris.

Here is a quite excompassing wikipedia entry on a fantastic output in general: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Marshall_(writer)

Looking forward to read more novels, his and others, also beyond Lent. Fiction can be better than heavy histories as food for thought sometimes!