8 Comments

  1. It was wonderful seeing you during our visit. Thank you for the kind words. We are extremely blessed that your family tolerates our antics. That is a great picture of your dad with his fans. I would love a copy!

  2. I love this and I think I know exactly what you mean. My kids have gone to a school that was founded by devout Catholic parents who were dissatisfied with diocesan schools, and wanted a school in which the faith is taught in its integrity with no watering down, etc. The school is now ten years old and growing and thriving. The thing which strikes one upon meeting it for the first time (I have heard this over and over from new parents) is how kind and courteous and friendly the students are. The faculty are friendly too, of course, but the kids are what really strike you. We knew immediately upon attending our first orientation that this was the place for our kids.

    I don’t know what the parents of these kids do that is different from what other parents do. Well, I know some things: They strictly monitor their activities, kids they associate with, movies they watch, etc. They instill in them respect for adults and for those in authority. But would this have the result of making kids genuinely kind and friendly? Couldn’t they just as easily rebel from these kinds of things?

    So no, I think it must come down simply to the fact that they are being raised by devout parents, meaning parents who have truly been converted to a love of God and of the Faith; and parents who associate with other devout Catholic families, so that they see the fruits of the faith replicated over and over.

    I don’t mean to say that there is no trouble in this school, and no “bad apples”. My kids have told me of some kids who badmouth teachers behind their backs, use foul language in secret, etc. But the dominant culture is of genuinely good kids who love their school and their friends, and love being humble and modest and kind to each other, because they intuitively know that this is the way to real happiness.

    So as to whether you will be able to “do this too”, I would say, I don’t doubt it. Of course it won’t be you “doing it”, it will be by God’s grace. But I can see from what you write that you will teach your kids the right things and have them associate with the right people — not in a snobbish way, but in the sense of people who will help to reinforce the message you are trying to instill in them. (Community, in my view, is of the utmost importance in combating the influence of the world.) And God will do the rest.

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