Catholic Education - for the Catholic - is a supplement to the spiritual education that
is already taking place in the Catholic home and being lived out at the parish
level. Catholic Education ceases to be Catholic
education for the Catholic if these conditions are not prerequisites for sending a child to a
Catholic school.
Chastity is challenged today and many of our youth have been so infected with the sins of our culture, that they no longer regard the practice of sexual expression outside of marriage as a sin. The Catechism assists us in teaching about Chastity.
The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person. Our children's personalities are being formed during childhood and adolescence.
Silence over sin is wrong.
Vatican II (Gravissimum Educationis par 2) emphasized that the development of a personal spirituality and participation in the Eucharist are included not just as aims, but as the principal aims of a Catholic school: "Such an education [Christian education] does not merely strive to foster in the human person the maturity already described. Rather, its principal aims are these: that as the baptized person is gradually introduced into a knowledge of the mystery of salvation, he may daily grow more conscious of the gift of faith which he has received; that he may learn to adore God the Father in spirit and in truth (cf. Jn. 4:23), especially through liturgical worship."
Parents have a serious moral obligation to educate their children. Therefore, it is for Christian parents particularly to take care of the Christian education of their children according to the doctrine handed on by the Church. As such, the Resurrection of Jesus is the fundamental event upon which Christian faith rests (cf. 1 Cor 15:14). It is an astonishing reality, fully grasped in the light of faith, yet we commemorate the day of Christ's Resurrection not just once a year but every Sunday and every Holy Day of Obligation. Saint Jerome said: "Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of Christians, it is our day".(3) For Christians, Sunday is "the fundamental feast day.
As Pope John Paul II taught in a 1998 apostolic letter, Dies Domini, the obligation of celebrating the Sunday Eucharist is not an arbitrary law imposed by the Church but "an indispensable element of our Christian identity".
Parents have a serious moral obligation to educate their children. Therefore, it is for Christian parents particularly to take care of the Christian education of their children according to the doctrine handed on by the Church. As such, the Resurrection of Jesus is the fundamental event upon which Christian faith rests (cf. 1 Cor 15:14). It is an astonishing reality, fully grasped in the light of faith, yet we commemorate the day of Christ's Resurrection not just once a year but every Sunday and every Holy Day of Obligation. Saint Jerome said: "Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of Christians, it is our day".(3) For Christians, Sunday is "the fundamental feast day.
As Pope John Paul II taught in a 1998 apostolic letter, Dies Domini, the obligation of celebrating the Sunday Eucharist is not an arbitrary law imposed by the Church but "an indispensable element of our Christian identity".
Are the best days of Catholic education schools indeed behind us?
When Catholics routinely no longer believe in the existence of God, miracles, the Resurrection of Christ, the Virgin Birth, or hearken to Church Teaching concerning the power of prayer, the inviolable dignity of each and every human life from conception to natural death, the dignity of human sexuality and marriage, weekly church attendance and participation, the requirements of social justice, pursuing the common good, and belief in the afterlife, and instead believe that the Church has perpetuated a lie or a myth that has deceived millions throughout history, this seems to be a situation that must be addressed in every Catholic home, not simply in the classroom.
It is – without a doubt – a struggle for the very soul of the Church and our faith in Christ. Our Catholic high schools were established to further the commitment to the faith. May we continue to nurture the faith of our ancestors – many who came here to the United States as unwanted pilgrim immigrants and established Catholic communities with their blood, sweat and tears.
When Catholics routinely no longer believe in the existence of God, miracles, the Resurrection of Christ, the Virgin Birth, or hearken to Church Teaching concerning the power of prayer, the inviolable dignity of each and every human life from conception to natural death, the dignity of human sexuality and marriage, weekly church attendance and participation, the requirements of social justice, pursuing the common good, and belief in the afterlife, and instead believe that the Church has perpetuated a lie or a myth that has deceived millions throughout history, this seems to be a situation that must be addressed in every Catholic home, not simply in the classroom.
It is – without a doubt – a struggle for the very soul of the Church and our faith in Christ. Our Catholic high schools were established to further the commitment to the faith. May we continue to nurture the faith of our ancestors – many who came here to the United States as unwanted pilgrim immigrants and established Catholic communities with their blood, sweat and tears.
