Dr. Kevin Yost spoke on his own journey from being raised as a Catholic to becoming an Atheist by way of reading certain philosophers as a young man. His continued reading led him back into the Catholic Church which he now loves. Some of the authors who led him out of the Church because of their "partial truths" were Ayn ( pronounced Ine, with a long I) Rand, Bertrand Russell, Albert Ellis, and Alfred Adler. Dr. Yost continued to search for the truth, to his credit, and then began to read G.K. Chesterton,Thomas Aquinas and the writings of John Paul II which led him into the full truth of the Catholic Church. He considers himself a "Revert."
The next speaker I heard had a particularly pertinent message that I needed to hear. Mr. Steve Wood is known for his work with the St. Joseph Covenant Keepers and now works for Family Life International. He is the father of ten children. His talk was called " Strategies for Parenting Pre-Teens and Teens." His white hair, energetic, authoritative and sincere manner made him very very persuasive. His first point was this: We are in the midst of a Full Scale Cultural Apostasy. His talk was loaded up with Biblical references and he said that he is considering writing a "Theology of Parenting",(like Theology of the Body), based on the many principles that God the Father, the ultimate parent, has revealed in Sacred Scripture.
His main point was this: In the Old Testament, preserving one's holiness is all about following Laws and maintaining " Walls of Separation" , that is staying apart from the sinful culture and its influences. He likens that to how we parent younger children.He notes that in The New Testament there is a profound shift from that mentality to a life of Grace and Freedom.The Law no longer comes from the outside but instead becomes internalized in the human heart. One of his proofs of this is from the one chapter book of Philemon in the New Testament, 1:13-14. Speaking of Onesimus, Paul writes, " I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary."
Mr. Wood emphasized that Salvation is by Grace and that Grace works! Teenagers need this Grace in their Hearts to withstand the depraved culture because there is no amount of separation that can be effective it is so widespread. You can't build a wall high enough to keep this stuff out!
The answer is in the Grace of The Holy Spirit which set the early church on fire with the love of God. This Grace is a Free gift but (as I have heard my father say) it is not ours to give! We, ourselves as parents, need to be within the radius of the breath of this same Holy Spirit. This is where the Power is, The Holy Spirit working through us, to influence our teen-agers to resist the current Cultural Apostasy (definition of apostasy: a complete forsaking of one's religion, faith, and principles).They have to " buy this" for themselves and only the Holy Spirit can help them to do that.
Something interesting that he said was that "Baptism forms the real content of Religious Education as God gives Himself fully to a person. Baptism is like a nuclear bomb just waiting to go off, filling us with the love of God."
When dealing with Teen-Agers, "Rigid external separation quenches the freedom of the human heart." It won't work!!!!!We shouldn't trust in ourselves, our curriculum, or homeschooling but ONLY In God HIMSELF!
He encouraged us to "Ask and Ye Shall Find...., Beg God for the fire of His Holy Spirit.
He ended with the Holy Spirit Prayer:
Come Holy Spirit
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
The last talk I was interested to hear was given by Dr. Dominic Aquila and it was called " Catholic Education as The Last Best Hope for American Democracy." He also based his talk on the Document written in 1981 by John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio " translated as The Role of The Family in the Modern World. His main point, as I understood it, was that the word "munus" in that document can be translated as Role(above) but also, as Duty, Mission, Service offered freely from a generous heart and Gift. He described the individuals in a family as "gifts" to each other and that we should be ever mindful of them as "gifts." Unlike the Market Economy where things are valued for their function, people have value in their dignity as persons.
He said that the family is a haven in a heartless world. The family can influence the world by being well formed and well educated in this idea of valuing all other people as "gifts". In a Democracy there is bound to be disagreement. If we can speak and discuss and even argue peaceably, there is no need to take up arms to settle differences. In the family we can learn to settle our differences with conversation. We value what other people have to say and listen to them because they are gifts.Conversation around the Dinner table is a great teacher of civil discourse needed in a democracy. We don't want to bludgeon each other with words. This idea can rehabilitate our very debilitated and degraded public discourse. Even our adversaries are gifts to us.
He stated that in home education there will be inevitable difficulties and we need to focus on to what end are we striving and re-energize our motives for doing this. Homeschooling has to be looked at as a positive good, not as a reactionary way to avoid an evil.
He discussed " The risks of education"- if you really enter into an exchange of ideas with another person- you could change their mind or they could change yours. However, we don't want to be dazzled by tricks or flourish.
He stated that married couples participate in God's creative activity at the biological level by having children. It is also their Duty and Mission to educate them socially and intellectually.This is how families contribute to the public good and contribute to the culture, which is the massive edifice of human learning.
