Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.January 24, 2011

When the great writer Reynolds Price died a few days ago, most obituaries omitted mention of his deep faith.  Yet much of his writing in later life focused on his Christian belief and practice.  For me, his most affecting treatment of that topic is in Letter to a Godchildin which Price writes to a young godchild on the occasion of his baptism.  (If I recall the book correctly, he states in the intro that it is an actual letter, not a made-up conceit.)  It's a wise and honest work that pulls no punches about the challenges of faith, but also makes no excuses for celebrating it.  Here is Price on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, in 2006, speaking about the book.  Listen to the interview and then by all means buy the book--for a godchild or for yourself.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
12 years 4 months ago
I can't believe he is gone...
Vic Gallerano
12 years 4 months ago
I have been a Reynolds Price reader since Joe Vanderholt, S.J. gave me a copy of
''A Long and Happy Life'' - about a hundred and eleven years ago, now. (''Surface of the Earth'' is still my favorite.) When I think of Price, I always think of the opening of Alan Judd's biography of Ford Maddox Ford: ''There are also the rich in spirit. It overflows and is seen in everything they do.'' Certainly in everything Reynolds Price wrote.
-Vic
Carolyn Disco
12 years 4 months ago
The NYTimes obituary:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/books/21price.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
Carolyn Disco
12 years 4 months ago
I can't help but ask: And the church characterizes him as ''intrinsically disordered?''
david power
12 years 4 months ago
His sexuality but not him Carolyn. 
Joseph O'Leary
12 years 4 months ago
I imagine pedophiles (referring to pedophilia as an orientation) would be very grateful if the Vatican would tell them what it tells gays: your sexuality is disordered, but you are not.
12 years 4 months ago
Touche, Mr. Power.

The latest from america

A Reflection for Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, by Valerie Schultz
Valerie SchultzJune 09, 2023
Joggers trot along the Reflecting Pool with the sun rising over the Washington Memorial and a thick layer of smoke, Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Washington. Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Canadians experience wildfires each year owing to lightning strikes and “careless people,” but no one can recall conditions like this.
Kevin ClarkeJune 09, 2023
One cousin has already refused to accept the inheritance; four others have not yet responded. If they are smart, they will turn it down as well.
Rome’s Gemelli hospital shared photographs of some drawings, cards and crafts that children and young adults recovering in its pediatric oncology ward had sent to Pope Francis during his recovery.
Gerard O’ConnellJune 09, 2023