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.
Most Catholics are aware that the Church places a special designation to virgins and martyrs among the saints. For instance, if you look at the “saint for the day” on a Catholic calendar, you may see a name listed like this: “St. Lucy, virgin and martyr.” Among theologians, it is commonly opined that these two classes of saints achieve a special “crown” in heaven. Many saints have both attributions, and there are many beautiful and inspirational stories about the saints and how they achieved these victories. One saint, for instance, revealed that when he was a young boy, he was very determined and concerned about choosing the correct path in life that God had ordained for him. One night, in answer to his prayer, the Blessed Mother appeared to him and held out two crowns—a white crown that represented virginity, and a red crown that represented martyrdom. Our Lady asked him which crown he desired. The boy responded that he chose both. Years later, at Auschwitz, when one of his fellow prisoners was chosen by the Nazis to be executed, the boy, who had grown up to become a Franciscan priest, stepped forward and asked to die in the place of the man.
Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, on Catholic radio discussed the challenges facing the young men in the seminary. Vocations to the priesthood are up in Chicago, due in no small part to men from countries such as Mexico, Poland and the Philippines who come here to serve the Church in the U.S. While all the seminarians are pious and enthusiastic, the local men face special issues. The men from foreign lands grew up in observant homes in vibrant Catholic cultures, while the Chicago men grew up … well, here.
Am I required to give home grades?
You are not required to give home grades; if you do not, then your student’s quarter grade will be based solely on the Seton-graded assignments. There is no problem with this, except that students tend to receive higher grades when the home grades are averaged with the Seton grades.
Marriage and the family are under attack by our government laws and regulations which cater to those who are determined to change society to remove any barriers for their evil habits.
