Description:
In Called Out, A. G. Mojtabai writes about the fallout from a commercial airline disaster in Bounds, a small Texas town. The tragedy is most vivid to five eyewitnesses: Father Mark, a Catholic priest; Glenna Wooten, a widow who owns the field where the plane crashes; a newspaper reporter from Fort Worth; a waitress; and a dog breeder.
The person who is most involved in the aftermath of the tragedy is Father Mark. The newspaper reporter sees him indiscriminately anointing the dead and questions him. The priest reflects: "God alone knew how many of them were Catholics, and God alone knew how many of the Catholics among the
In Called Out, A. G. Mojtabai writes about the fallout from a commercial airline disaster in Bounds, a small Texas town. The tragedy is most vivid to five eyewitnesses: Father Mark, a Catholic priest; Glenna Wooten, a widow who owns the field where the plane crashes; a newspaper reporter from Fort Worth; a waitress; and a dog breeder.
The person who is most involved in the aftermath of the tragedy is Father Mark. The newspaper reporter sees him indiscriminately anointing the dead and questions him. The priest reflects: "God alone knew how many of them were Catholics, and God alone knew how many of the Catholics among them were fit to receive absolution and the sacrament...I anointed anyone who stirred, trembled, breathed or seemed to breathe. Anyone and everyone. Err on the side of lavishness... Leave it to the Lord to sort out."
Father Mark's compassion and his appreciation of grace also compel him to keep the church open at all hours so that visiting relatives of the crash victims can use the sanctuary for prayer and grieving. However, this act gets him in trouble with some of his cost-conscious parishioners who criticize "the high cost of unlimited hospitality."
One of the main points of Called Out is the inability or refusal of most of the townsfolk to identify with the outsiders or to comprehend the significance of the tragedy. The newspaper reporter unsuccessfully tries to locate the big story in the event. Glenna, in the end, explains it to him: "We've come to realize — I have — Well, maybe, just this for now: how tangled together we are. All of us...Like the leaves of the trees, the green and the fallen." Yes, that's what Called Out is about — the lavishness of God's grace and the fallenness of humanity.
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Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
Release date: 1 May 1994
ISBN-10 : 038547430X |
ISBN-13: 9780385474306
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