by Father Robert Lauder
A few weeks ago, I received an email from someone in Southern California. The sender wrote that she and her friends have been watching my series of lectures on the Catholic novel on YouTube. From viewing the series, they have decided to start a discussion group on the Catholic novel. When I read this, if I had been wearing a but-toned-down vest, the buttons would have popped off.
If I were wearing a hat, I would have to discard it and get a larger size. I became so honored and so excited that I almost felt I was going to be part of the discussion group. The group members noticed that I had not covered any of Flannery O’Connor’s writings in my lectures, and they found this strange, hoping I would explain why.
O’Connor is considered by many critics to be one of the great writers of the 20th century, and members of the group indicated they would be very interested in learning why I did not mention Flannery in any of my lectures. I responded by admitting that O’Connor’s book “Mystery and Manners,” in which she comments on art, is a favorite of mine, but I have difficulty understanding her two novels and her short stories.
Perhaps it’s just a matter of personal taste. In my email response, I indicated that I thought their plan to form a discussion group discussing Catholic novels was a wonderful idea, and I hoped that such groups would multiply around the country. Everyone loves a story, and Catholic novels deal with the most important themes.
Most of them, I think, deal with the most important mysteries. Reflecting on the email from Southern California, I fantasized that if my hope that discussion groups centered on Catholic novels multiplied around the country, and that I was put in charge of the national program, what advice would I give to those wishing to start such groups? My first piece of advice would be that members of the group should make a serious commitment to read the novel that they are gathering to discuss.
I think reading a novel every week and gathering each week to discuss a different novel would be too much of a burden for many. I would suggest monthly meetings. Reading one Catholic novel a month is quite doable for most people. It would be an advantage if someone in the group taught literature as a profession, but that is not a necessary condition. If every member of the group reads the assigned book, everyone can join in the discussion.
No experts are necessary. I think it is a good idea that the meetings take place not on church grounds but in the homes of the participants. This might allow members of a family to observe the discussions and even eventually to become part of a discussion group. The fact that some members of a family had not read the assigned novel would exclude them from participating, but not from observing.
A practical suggestion I would make is that each meeting should be a definite amount of time, and the time limit should be strictly observed. My suggestion would be that a meeting should not go beyond an hour and a half, even if that limit occasionally means terminating a discussion that is going beautifully. My experience with discussion groups is that if there is no time limit, a session that runs too long, even if very interesting, might work against attendance at the next meeting.
For the first time this spring, I conducted a seminar for philosophy majors at St John’s University entitled “Philosophy and Catholic novels.” I was warned by friends and also other teachers that many contemporary college students have a reputation of being “nonreaders.”
One professor told me they read their cellphones, but they do not read books. I had the students read six Catholic novels: Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair” and “The Power and the Glory,” Shūsaku Endō’s “Deep River,” Mark Salzman’s “Lying Awake,” Ron Hansen’s “Mariette in Ecstasy,” and Morris West’s “The Devil’s Advocate.”
I was really impressed by the discussions that took place and the essays students submitted. Prior to the class, none of the students had read any of the novels assigned. The enthusiasm of the students when they discussed the novels was infectious. Conducting the seminar was, for me, a dream fulfilled. My experience with the students has moved me to encourage readers of this column to start discussion groups.
My suggestion would be to limit the discussion session to eight to ten weeks in the fall, and if successful, to eight to 10 weeks in the spring. If I hear again from the members of the group in Southern California, I will have to say, “Thank you.”
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.