Join our Casual Seasonal Book Club!
Dive into great reads with a community that loves literature as much as you do. We keep the conversation alive and engaging through our FACEBOOK group, where members can share their thoughts, insights, and questions while reading. This ongoing online discussion allows everyone to participate at their own pace, fostering a rich and interactive reading experience.
At the end of each book, we gather in person at the Parish Center for a lively group conversation. This final meeting is a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow book lovers, delve deeper into the themes and characters, and enjoy the shared enthusiasm of finishing a great book together.
Whether you’re a voracious reader or someone who enjoys a good book now and then, our book club offers a welcoming and relaxed environment. Join us for a season of enriching reads and meaningful discussions!
Our New Book: I Surrender, A Memoir of Chile’s Dictatorship, 1975
It’s time for the next book! The newest selection is I Surrender, A Memoir of Chile’s Dictatorship, 1975 by Kathleen Osberger. This book is recommended by a fellow parishioner. The author recounts her experience at the young age of 22, when she was drawn into the work of religious women and clergy who courageously stood up to the Pinochet dictatorship to defend the lives of dissidents. Her story illuminates the continuing struggle for human rights especially as it relates to Catholic Social Teaching. The author will be traveling to Midland and be available to discuss her book and experiences here in the parish center on May 6th at 6:39 pm. Our Laidback book club will have a page on Facebook for comments as you read. We will meet as a group in person to discuss the book on Tuesday, April 28th at 7pm in the parish library. You can also just pick up a copy of the book and come to see the author on May 6th.
The publisher Orbis Books states: In September 1973 a CIA-assisted coup overthrew the democratically-elected president of Chile, ushering in the Pinochet dictatorship. In 1975, Kathleen Osberger, a recent graduate and lay volunteer from Notre Dame, left for Santiago to teach in a Catholic grade school. Upon arrival, she was told a secret: the religious women she would live with sheltered dissidents in the cross-hairs of Pinochet’s secret police. Given the ever-tightening vise over the citizenry, brave and prophetic people reached out to protect the dissidents’ lives in a world without due process and where detention, torture, disappearance, and death reigned. Soon, Osberger is handed a blindfold, a warrant, and must go on the run.
I Surrender depicts the solidarity of the Chilean people and the transformational role of nuns and priests dedicated to serving the poor, while highlighting the changing and challenged Catholic Church.
Life and dignity of the human person is one of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching. The response and actions of the men and women in this book—who risked their own lives to protect those targeted for defending freedom—demonstrate a profound commitment to human rights. As stated on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website regarding this theme, nations must safeguard the right to life by seeking ever more effective ways to prevent conflicts and resolve them through peaceful means. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
Contact Christy for more information about how to join the group.