Spirit & Life is the weekly e-column of
Human Life International.
_______________________________
Dear deaconjohn,
From our Truth and Charity Forum,
we share here a column from HLI's Roland Millare on the family as the
primary setting for the education and formation of children. Roland
emphasizes the privilege and duty of parents to form their children with
strong moral values so that they can stand firmly against the
incredible pressure brought by an increasingly aggressive and immoral
culture. I hope this article on such a relevant topic will be an
encouragement to all families in this day and age in which marriage and
the family have come under attack. The role of the family as primary
educator of the child is irreplaceable both for child's development, and
to society as a whole, as no other institution can replace the family
in a child's life.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International
Catholic Identity Theft
by Roland Millare
Many
lay Catholics answer the call to serve as a theology teacher because of
the role they play in the formation of hearts and minds of the students
they serve. So many parents, who sacrifice to send their children to a
Catholic school, do an excellent job of preparing their hearts at home
and providing a nurturing home environment. However, other students seem
to have their identity shaped by various influences beyond the home.
One
of the greatest challenges for teachers (in all levels of education) is
they oftentimes find it necessary to offer formation that should
normally be given at home. In my apostolate as a high school teacher, I
have heard a number of cries for help from my students that have led me
to conclude that families need to reclaim their role as the first school
of faith for their children.
One student sat across from me in tears as she lamented that her mother
acted more like a "friend" than her mother. Another student claimed
that his parents gave him every material thing he ever wanted when all
he really wanted was some of their time. A young woman once asked me if
she was culpable for missing Sunday Mass if her parents refused to take
her. Unfortunately, these anecdotes are only a small sampling of many
such stories that I have experienced as a theology teacher in a Catholic
high school.
Most
of the families that send their children to a Catholic school desire
the formation in faith and morality. Yet what is overlooked is the
consistent teaching of the Church: parents are the first educators of their children.
Catholic
schools may share in the work of formation, but it is the school of the
family that should have the primary role in forming their children in
the truth of the faith and a life of charity.
The role of families as primary educators must be respected and protected by both the Church and the State. In his Letter to Families, Blessed Pope John Paul II emphasizes the principle of subsidiarity in relation to the family:
Subsidiarity thus complements paternal and maternal love and confirms its fundamental nature, inasmuch as all other participants in the process of education are only able to carry out their responsibilities in the name of the parents, with their consent, and, to a certain degree, with their authorization(no. 16).
Parents
have the freedom and the right to educate their children in the faith
and moral life of the Church. But they need to claim this role and duty
to help form their children's identity as a member of God's family.
The
lack of vigilance on the part of some families will lead future
generations to be formed unabashedly by the surrounding secularization
that fills up the classrooms of both public and private schools--which
influences the information doled out by the media, and shapes the themes
of the songs and movies that they constantly subject themselves to
without the knowledge or concern of their parents.
The
English historian Christopher Dawson highlights the subsidiarity of the
family and what is at stake should we continue to lose the influence of
well formed Christian households:
[U]nder the Roman Empire, the family formed an independent society which was almost immune from the state, so that it could become the primary cell of an unrecognized Christian society or culture. But today the very existence of the family as a social unity is threatened by the all-pervasive influence of the state and the secular mass culture. Yet without the Christian family there can be no Christian community life and indeed no church in the traditional sense of the word: only a few scattered individuals who maintain an isolated prophetic witness, like Elias in the wilderness.
Dawson
wrote these words during the early part of the twentieth century. Yet
there is always an element of sober hope in his writings that the
witness of individual Christians can assist in turning the tide against
the onslaught of secularism.
Renewal
oftentimes begins with individuals receiving charisms that they share
with others for the good of the Church: St. Francis of Assisi and the
Franciscans, St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits, or more recently
Blessed Theresa of Calcutta and the Missionaries of Charity. Individuals
are never formed in a vacuum. Their first school of life begins in the
home.
Recently, Pope Francis in his first encyclical Lumen fidei
writes, "In the family, faith accompanies every age of life, beginning
with childhood: children learn to trust in the love of their parents.
This is why it is so important that within their families parents
encourage shared expressions of faith which can help children gradually
to mature in their own faith" (no. 53). The family is the first school
where young men and women can learn how to respond generously to the
call to be a saint.
Good
parents know the friends of their children. They are aware of the kinds
of books they read, the music they listen to and the movies they watch.
These parents strive to strike the delicate balance between gently and
at times firmly guiding their children toward the truly Good life in
Christ.
When
the surrounding culture is imbued with a secularized worldview,
Christian families will often be forced to go against the stream. If
current trends continue in our society in favor of a "new normal,"
Christian households will face social persecution and ridicule. There is
no need to be anxious or fearful of such an attitude from the
surrounding culture because it is the fruit of climbing the ladder of
the beatitudes: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted
the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:12).
In an interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20,
Lady Gaga stated that she viewed herself as a "teacher." Her primary
lesson was to teach students to "create their own space." In other
words, secular icons like Lady Gaga want to enable students to view
freedom as mere license to do whatever they want with whomever they
want. These celebrities become our children's teachers. Subsequently,
many young men and women identify with their values if we do not steer
them in the direction to find their identity in our Lord and Savior.
Now
more than ever we need good Christian families to reclaim their
prophetic role as the primary educators of their children by leading
them to true freedom in the life of Jesus Christ.
True Catholic identity begins first and foremost in the home.
This
week's Spirit & Life is by Roland Millare, a Fellow of Human Life
International, and Editor of HLI's online publication, the Truth and Charity Forum.
