A busy Spring and a hectic Summer have finally been replaced by a painfully slow stroll into Fall as October has arrived on our doorstep. Excruciating lower back pain does have a way of slowing us down, eh? I’ve never been in this much pain for such a prolonged period and it’s really wearing me down… but on the other hand, it has dumped me back into my desk chair and refreshed my relationship with my handsome hero, Achilles. He and his shield have the magical ability to make me forget everything around me as Achilles’ world fills my imagination with Homeric lore – I couldn’t ask for better medicine!

So, settling down to write this blog post, I want to tell you that just about this same time last year, as I was excited about launching my book, Reconstructing the Shield of Achilles, I received an exciting email from Susannah, the librarian at the University of Dallas. She informed me that UD, a Catholic liberal arts university in Texas, was assembling videos for a Catholic faith and culture program. She asked permission to use images of my Shield of Achilles, and I happily agreed, with the condition that I would be credited appropriately and provided a copy of the video featuring my shield when it was published.

Finally, I have time to share the exciting results of UD’s Catholic Faith & Culture video course featuring my shield! The program is quite interesting – I didn’t at first get the connection between Homer’s ancient Greece and Catholicism, but the website description offers a great starting point:

Okay, I have to admit I’ve always felt a bit spiritually squeamish while gallivanting across Ancient Greece in the polytheistic company of Achilles, Odysseus, Helen, et al… I was born into a big Irish Catholic family and enjoyed my first 4 years of elementary education at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School. I adored my 2nd-grade teacher, Sister Mary Leo, and have often cringed at what she might think of all my fun times with Achilles.

Can you imagine my incredible surprise to discover a Catholic University interested in endorsing my lifetime love of Achilles and my reconstruction of his spectacular shield?! It was – and still is – indescribably delightful!!

Inviting local community members to start a Catholic Faith & Culture cohort, the University of Dallas has prepared these video courses for participants to engage in a higher level study of faith. Founded on a Catholic understanding of the human person, these video courses explore resources from across the Liberal Arts, including fine arts, literature, philosophy, and even political science.

It’s a great honor for my reconstruction of the Shield of Achilles to be included in such a thoughtful and enlightening program. Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, Program Director and Theology Professor, presents a compelling and lovely spiritual interpretation of the center boss of Achilles’ shield, as well as the inner ring, with its scenes of marriage and other aspects of civil life.  Also, the video wizards behind the curtain did a fantastic job of animating the rings of Achilles’ shield, as you will see in the video – it’s quite an appealing effect!

You are welcome, of course, to view the video from the Catholic Faith & Culture website, and the resolution there is clearly superior, to be honest. But I’ve uploaded the same video segment to youtube so that it can be played here directly, in spite of the lower resolution:

My deep thanks and appreciation go out to all the kind folks involved with the production of these videos, especially the segments featuring my reconstruction of the shield of Achilles. I hope and pray that the University of Dallas’ Studies in Catholic Faith and Culture Program will enjoy the greatest success and I am very pleased to participate in their program.

 

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Please Note: This post is offered purely to share my delight at seeing my reconstruction of Achilles’ Shield adopted for the purpose of higher learning. Spiritual beliefs are naturally very personal and we are often quite sensitive about expressing them in public. And while I deeply appreciate spiritual faith in all its diverse presentations, this post should be viewed only as an appreciation of, not an endorsement for, the Catholic faith.

I’m pretty sure my beloved Sister Mary Leo would never forgive me for converting to Islam, even if she could get over her dismay at my fascination for superhero pagans. What can I say? I also have a fascination for the One God, head coverings, and prayer beads. But celibacy? Er, not so much…;^)

But, on the other hand, I must be fair and admit that I might be underestimating Sister Mary Leo. I’m rather impressed by this recent photo of two young schoolgirls at Blessed Sacrament School:

 

 
 
[direct link to High-Res video:]