Fr. Z's Blog

From a reader…

Father Z you used to make podcasts where you read poetry but you havent done that for a long time now.  I used to like those. I just found on Facebook something the actor Patrick Steward (Captain Picard!) has done. He’s read one of Shakespeare’s sonnets every day. He wants to do all of them. Why don’t you do that?  You have a great voice.  And I know you can do videos because of your Masses.  I’ll donate a $1 a  day if you do!

LOL!  Yes, it’s true that I used to do poetry podcasts. It’s true that I working now also with video.

What an interesting idea. This is the first I’ve heard of Patrick Stewart doing that. I found that he does indeed have a short video every day.  He has recorded over 100 of them at the time of this writing.  They are posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (which I have but I’ve never used).   They are posted with the hashtag #asonnetaday

I’ve always like Shakespeare.  He played an enormously important role in my early youth, such that I credit him with an important role in my eventual conversion.  To this day I render him tribute with my little “Talk Like Shakespeare Day” scenes.   This year’s homage was Two Gentlemen of Corona.  It may go viral.  I’ve also been been taking a stab at Christopher Marlowe and his newly “discovered” Tragikal History of Doctor Fauci“.    I digress.

Once upon a long time ago, I was quite familiar with the sonnets. I knew many of them by heart and probably still (mostly) do. It would be interesting to see how my view of their content has changed with age. My age, that is. I’ve been subjected to the never-resting time that Shakespeare warns his friend about and describes working upon himself as well. It is valuable to revisit the greats. The words on our pages don’t change… but we do. And as the adage runs, quidquid recipitur, in modo recipientis recipitur.

I like what Stewart does in his little videos. He is in a different place each time. Sometimes he adds a touch of whimsy or makes brief comment, on the text or on life in general. They are informal and not overly polished. They are just fun.

So, yeah. I’ll do this.  And – hey! – After all these years I’d be a paid actor again!  Anyone else want to do the $1 a day thing?  I have a subscription option for that!

And maybe when I’ve done with the Sonnets, I’ll do the Psalms.

UPDATE