Today is the feast day (in the traditional calendar) of St. Jean Baptiste De La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and patron saint of teachers. He founded free schools for the poor and teachers institutes to train those who would form the minds and hearts of little ones. His apostolate, like that of St. John Bosco later, was often attacked, especially by those who thought the poor should be raised only in trades and manual labor. His congregation focused on "lay" brothers who were not going to be priests, but whose work was to be in the classroom.
Contrast the work of this great saint with that of secular educrat John Dewey who wasn't interested in the uniqueness of students, but in forming them for the needs of the world. How much his philosophy deformed the teachers so they could deform their students. The brothers work in 79 countries today.
Learn more about the order and their ministry here. And today would be a good day to share with your children about this great saint.
The Catholic Catechism (of Trent) has much to say about the education and rearing of children as a marriage's first blessing -
ReplyDelete- quote of various excerpts -
The faithful should also be shown that there are three blessings of marriage: children, fidelity and the Sacrament ... The first blessing, then, is a family, that is to say, children born of a true and lawful wife ... bringing them up and training them to the practice of piety ... Parents are obliged to bring up their children in the knowledge and practice of religion, and to give them the best rules for the regulation of their lives; so that, instructed and trained in religion, they may serve God holily and constantly ... The priest, therefore, should admonish parents to be to their children guides in the virtues of justice, chastity, modesty and holiness".
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And, according to St Joseph's Catechism for children, the purpose of matrimony is to raise children for the Kingdom of God that they might love and enjoy Him in heaven forever.
As you say, contrast the everlasting, unchanging guidance of the RCC with that of "secular educrats like John Dewey, interested only in forming children for the needs of the world": one is interested in producing biological widgets to feed the economic engines of society; the other is interested in saving souls, made in the image and likeness of God, and advancing the interests of the only reality that matters which is God's sovereign Kingdom.
It is easy to be swept away, as a parent, and work to get your child advantages in the world of business and economy for security in life and relative position among their peers. Often, we don't even know we are doing this, so intrinsic is the logic of John Dewey's secular education system. But as Catholic parents we must be driven, as our highest duty, to educate and raise our children to be saints in heaven, and let their work ethic, part of their spiritual training, carry them into their proper sustaining economic role in life.
One of St. John Vianney's first acts in the decrepit Parish of Ars that he was assigned to was to personally fund and create a Catholic school for the poverty stricken children of Ars. He saved many of their souls, thereby, and planted the seeds of heroic holiness in his formerly spiritually decrepit Parish, that we read about and are inspired by in books today.
I was reading from a missal the short descriptions of the lives of the saints. And for John Bosco there was a quote saying like "I will live the young boys and make them love me." Sent off all my red flag bells. I hope he wasn't doing what it sounded like in the quote.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't a Father want to "love" his young boys and "make them love" him? You can only have an impact on those who know you love them and love you in return. Please don't put the aberrations of today on the statements of this great saint of God.
DeleteAnonymous 250:
DeleteYou’ve never read John Bosco. If you had, you’d know his life’s work was the precise opposite of your absurd comment - the countless witnesses to this are what led to his canonization.
One such witness was Pope Pius XI, who had *known St. John Bosco personally as a young priest*, and formally canonized him in 1934, formally declaring him a saint“
And it is so.