The Life You Save May Be Your Own

On Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the annual Fr. John Zahm, C.S.C. Lecture at the University of Portland. This year's lecturer was Mr. Paul Elie, editor at Farrar Straus Giroux in New York City, and author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own.

Mr. Elie's book is the intertwined stories of four great American Catholic authors: Thomas Merton, Walker Percy, Dorothy Day and Flannery O'Connor, all of whom wrote during the 1940's and 50's. "The four exchanged letters, ardently read one another's books, and grappled with what one of them called a 'predicament shared in common'" - that of being a Catholic writer.

If you enjoy good writing, and if you get the chance, read this book. It is itself a very good piece of writing, and it's about some of the greatest American writers of all time - all of whom were Catholics as well.

Mr. Elie's lecture focused entirely on Flannery O'Connor, and what her life and work might have to say to us in our own time. Though in many ways conditions for Catholic culture in America have never been better (a significant portion of the laity are wealthier and better educated than ever before) it is still difficult to define 'Catholic culture' in a way that was much less true in the 1950's.

As a Southern Catholic writer O'Connor made the distinction between culture and Church. She felt that culture was passing, and the Church and true identity were not: they were what truly endured. And so her writing avoids many of the "trappings" of the Catholicism of her era and speaks to the fundamentals of faith: God's existence, grace, redemption, etc. 

As a result, O'Connors writing may resonate better with the searchers of today who would otherwise be bogged down by allusions to a Catholic culture that has radically changed since the 1960's.

I found this to be a most interesting thesis. It brought together so many of my interests: American Catholic history, culture, literature and the modern-day pastoral implications. I'm especially glad that Fr. Charlie Gordon, C.S.C. who organizes the "G.K. Chesterton Reading Group" that I belong to, has decided to have us read some Flannery O'Connor this semester as a little break from our usual fare. We've already had one great evening of discussion and I look forward to more!