One of the most memorable aspects of my Pastoral Visit to the United States was the opportunity it afforded me to reflect on America’s historical experience of religious freedom, and specifically the relationship between religion and culture. At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.

Jacksonville, FL. March 16 (Fri.). Immaculate Heart of Mary Jacksonville Homeschool and Parent Conference, Embassy Suites Jacksonville-Baymeadows, 9300 Baymeadows Rd, Jacksonville, FL. 2:00 PM — 8:00 PM. Info: 540-636-1946 or info@ihmconference.org or www.ihmconference.org.

I never knew how much I didn’t know until I was homeschooled. I have been an “A-B” student since kindergarten, and I have attended private schools since second grade. I’ve always enjoyed the classroom atmosphere, and at this time last year, I would never have given it up for anything. I loved cheerleading, I loved sports and I loved to have fun. I was in every club and every contest; I was always on the run with my activities. At this time last year, I had just had my cap-and-gown 8th grade graduation, and I was trying to decide which of my three high school options was best for my needs, both socially and academically.

Someday, I’ll have to grow up. But not today.

I was married when I was 21 years old, and I have been a father since I was 22. I’ve often thought that this meant that I had to grow up fast. However, I have recently considered the notion that it meant quite the contrary. Whether growing up in my parents’ home or becoming a parent myself, I have been surrounded by little children my entire life. In fact, there has been at least one child under three-years-old in my home for almost every moment of my adult life.

My personal pet peeves include books and authors who present homeschooling as an always fun and sunny alternative to institutional schools. If you believe some of what is written, you might easily think that our homeschooled children are sitting at their tidy desks, in their neat school clothes, diligently hammering at the books, while begging for more challenging work. Let’s face it: sometimes the truth is not quite so pretty, making it easy to lose sight of our goals.

How do I prepare my son to take a Seton test?

The first step is to be sure your student reads and follows the directions in the lesson plans. One problem we see is that the student “short cuts” the daily assignments. The assignments may include reading the chapter, studying any outline in the chapter, highlighting or underlining important points, answering the end of chapter review questions, and making a chapter outline if there is not one. One thing we are doing when we write our high school textbooks is adding an outline at the beginning of each chapter.

We celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on February 11th. The shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes is likely one of the most visited shrines on earth. At the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, countless numbers of people have been healed with the water from the miraculous spring. People suffering from physical ailments as well as spiritual maladies have testified to their cures.

How is it possible to communicate the beauty of marriage to the people of today?

Today, to many young people and even to some who are not so young, definitiveness appears as a constriction, a limitation of freedom. And what they want first of all is freedom. They are afraid that in the end they might not succeed. They see so many failed marriages. They fear that this juridical form, as they understand it, will be an external weight that will extinguish love.

Jacksonville, FL. March 16 (Fri.). Immaculate Heart of Mary Jacksonville Homeschool and Parent Conference, Embassy Suites Jacksonville-Baymeadows, 9300 Baymeadows Rd, Jacksonville, FL. 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM. Info: 540-636-1946 or info@ihmconference.org or www.ihmconference.org.

Some time ago, we taught our 10-year-old daughter how nature recycles water through the water cycle. I explained to her that this means all water, even that which you exhale through your nose. A big breakthrough came the other day when it was raining. She asked me if some of the rain that was falling could have been the water used by John the Baptist when he baptized Jesus. In addition, she wanted to know if some of it came from the parting of the Red Sea. I told her that in both of these cases, we couldn’t prove it, but that there was a very remote possibility. I thought, great, this is learning at its best! That is, she extended and applied knowledge in a way that I hadn’t considered.