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"Where the right education of youth is concerned, no amount of trouble or labor is too much... Let everyone be firmly convinced, first of all, that the minds of children are best trained above all by the teaching they receive at home. If in their growing years they find in their homes the rule of an upright life and the exercise of Christian virtue, the salvation of society will be in great part assured."
Pope Leo XIII, encycl: Sapientiae christianae, Jan 10, 1890, in "Education: Papal Teachings" St Paul Editions, 1960, p117
posted by Holly at 3:24 PM
3 Comments:
My home life is teaching my children something - what? Am I the model of Christian virtue I ought to be? Am I instructing my children in the faith? Am I training their moral characters to virtuous living and the service of God, family and fellow man?
If not, how am I going to change? What can I do to bring about a deeper reflection of the Gospel of Jesus in my life?
My salvation, the salvation of my children, and the salvation of society depends on whether I take these questions seriously, or not...
I often find myself struggling with the question "Is it worth it?" I see the HUGE task of raising my children in this world and all the responsibility that goes with that. Sometimes homeschooling becomes the focus but for me it is really about creating a little Catholic culture within the walls of my home that spills out into my community. I have little souls to form, evangelize, love, educate, etc, etc. So sometimes I just want to crawl back into bed and hide. But then I pray, and pray, and pray some more. My husband says Hand to the Plough. It is worth it. This quote is going on my fridge. It is worth it.
You know, Jen, from what I am reading about Catholic education - education is about 'life', not 'school'. We've grown up in a culture that institutionalized school and this is what we think education is. But it's not.
Education is about forming the persons of our children - their hearts , souls, minds, wills, bodies... Your focus on establishing a 'Catholic culture' more truly reflects what Catholic Ed is really all about.
And it is a call, a mission - too much for our own efforts alone - too supernatural in focus to even dream of doing it on our own.
Keep on praying and keep on crawling out of bed! I think we can only give the 5 little insignificant loaves and fish of our own attempts, and let Jesus multiply them...
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