The Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Homeschool Convention held at the Dulles Expo Center last week-end was so much fun and I got so much out of it that I wanted to continue to share some of the Speakers' points here. I attended the entire Convention which started on Friday morning 9am-9pm and then returned on Saturday from 9:30-4pm. I almost talked myself out of going on Saturday but I realized that I could clean anytime and this was a once a year opportunity. I am so glad that I went.
I bought nothing at all for homeschooling as I had planned except for a CD with the prayers of the Rosary in Latin. I did plan to purchase good novels for myself and the kids to read which I did. I picked up The Hound of the Baskervilles( which I finished last night, having never read it before), A Tale of Two Cities ( also have never read it ),Regina Doman's newest "Fairy Tale Novel" Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyber Thieves, and Carmen Marcoux's newest, Surrender. For the boys I bought Otto of the Silver Hand and Between the Forest and the Hills. Whatever I do next year, my curriculum will be heavy on reading good literature.
I attended the talk of Fr. Thomas Longua on "Raising a Holy Family in the Culture of Death".He is a young priest who was a study in contrasts wearing a long cassock and holding a Mac laptop computer. His main point was that Rock music is, for a number of reasons, disordered. He mentioned that Rock comes from Jazz which is an off-shoot of Voo-Doo. He said that music is an expression of Culture and it imprints immediately upon the Passions of humans without going by way of the intellect unlike paintings and sculpture which go through our reasoning because we interpret their meaning. He had nothing good to say about Rock and Roll music because its beat is not natural. It is rooted in Teen-age Angst and rebellion.It celebrates drugs, sexual chaos and selfishness to the extreme. He said it was not just paganistic but was demonic. He said that MANY of the famous Rock and Roll personalities were Satan worshipers. He was not crazy about Christian Rock either and considered that to be an oxy-moron.He basically said " Don't let your kids listen to Rock and Roll music. It teaches our souls to delight in disordered passions." Classical Music, he felt, was real culture.
He explained that the Passions ( which are mostly our emotions) are like wild horses that need to be trained especially when they are young and kept fit EVERY DAY by training them to be under the control of the WILL. He said that we adults need to train ourselves first of all to be more virtuous.To conquer oneself is to show strength. He said that if kids see us conquering ourselves they will see our strength and they will do anything they can to get our love.He recommended picking one virtue and practicing it over a specific period of time intentionally. He said if one kid drives us crazy at lunch time, PRAY and do not loose patience no matter what happens during the lunch hour that day. As we practice this "training" we will strengthen our will and that passion of impatience will weaken.
Professor Joseph Pearce had an English accent and was a joy to listen to as he spoke on "Reclaiming Catholic Culture- The Battle Begins in the Home". He said that parents have the MOST important job in the world and that 20 years of bad parenting guarantees many problems 20 years later. He said that we are handing on a priceless inheritance- 3000 years of Western Civilization. He said that catholic means universal and included Ancient Greece and the Old Testament in the things that influenced us. " All creativity is a grace and every work of art is a product of a relationship with God." He discussed the different time periods and their contributions to culture.
He said that today there is a tendency to despondency and despair.That although we are made in the image of God, we are fallen, broken and disobedient. He said that the Battle goes on in each human heart in every generation.We are miserable sinners. The World hates the Church as it always has. To be a Christian is to stand up against the World. He said that parents need to pass this inheritance of Christianity onto their children in 4 ways:
1) Go forth and Multiply. The World is a parasite- it doesn't create-it sneers.
2)Bring Children up with Love and Charity. Marriage and parenthood are an indissoluble union of self-sacrifice unto death. By participating in the Sacraments, prepare to change the world. It should be a better place because we lived. Because the Family is so central to everything human, resist anything that weakens it (particularly in economics and politics) as evil.
3) Homeschooling! He said we learn right along with our children. He quoted Chesterton as saying that anything worth doing is worth doing badly! In other words, you don't have to be perfect- just do your best. He encouraged us to enrich our children with the great Classics and teach them to think with the Church.
4) Evangelization. Begin with our own children to make them Soldiers for Jesus Christ. Teach them to LOVE like the Saints.He said that Mother Teresa changed hearts by the way she loved individually.
He summed up by saying that Beauty can be seen which leads to a sense of Gratitude. We want to say Thank You which leads people to God. He said that the Good, the True and the Beautiful can lead us to The Holy Trinity. We should know the Truth, love the Truth and seek the Truth.
Once again, I will have to continue this later. There are three more talks that I will summarize the next time.You can see why I was so inspired and uplifted by these speakers who carried powerful messages.By the way, this Conference was FREE so that everyone could participate. I planned ahead and was able to donate what was suggested to help with the expenses. I got a lot for my money and time!
