Michael Novak and William E. Simon, Jr.

'Living the Call,' a new book from Encounter Books

That Elias Josue Moo went to Catholic school for 13 years and never once heard of the University of Notre Dame may strike some as odd. But Elias grew up in a distinctive kind of enclave in Oxnard, California. His parents both came to this country from Mexico when they were 17; his father as a farmworker and his mother as a ranch-hand. They struggled to send Elias and his four siblings to Catholic school and when, during his senior year, Notre Dame came knocking with a generous financial-aid package, he took the plunge. Elias had never been away from home for more than a night.