Dear friends of life and family:
Well, it's that time of the year again: children, teenagers and young adults have returned or are soon returning to school. While this is always a time of year full of trepidation and excitement, the start of the 2011-2012 school year brought a little extra excitement for the many fortunate teenagers and young adults attended World Youth Day in Madrid this August.
As the school year begins with the end of World Youth Day celebrations, and following the lead of our Holy Father at "WYD," it seems fitting to discuss the importance of education.
The Church has always recognized that education is a fundamental aspect of her evangelizing mission. She has established thousands upon thousands of educational initiatives to proclaim Jesus' Love and His Truth. However, as an educator, I have experienced first hand the temptation of parents, and teachers, to think that education is something that the "experts" provide children. And while it is true that most will learn their "three R's" and the sciences at a school, it cannot be forgotten that the home is to be the first school of education, even in a school where theology is taught.
In the home, children learn to love. There they learn virtues such as patience, modesty, compassion, and kindness. It is where kids learn the Faith and are taught the importance of vocation.
This task of education can be daunting as it demands from parents a true and sincere effort to grow in holiness and virtue. But, as Blessed John Paul II regularly emphasized, parents simply cannot be replaced. Parents who seek to grow in truth and love are even more essential as the influences surrounding children are increasingly troubling. Attacks on the unborn and the sick, promotion of sexual sins, relativism, materialism and a rejection of God make it very difficult to be a parent - or perhaps especially, to be a child - today. New York City is mandating "comprehensive" sexual education for all children, the federal government is promoting contraception and abortion-inducing drugs, schools are firing teachers who say that homosexual acts are immoral and the mainstream media never stops its push to normalize homosexuality and "transgenderism."
But in the face of such difficulties, Pope Benedict reminds us that we cannot despair. "There is no reason to lose heart in the face of the various obstacles we encounter in some countries." First of all, and most importantly, we cannot despair because Jesus is our Rock and our Salvation, and His Love is never failing.
As World Youth Day showed us, young people today also give us reason to "be not afraid." In Madrid, Pope Benedict seemed to marvel at the young pilgrims who had, in his words, a "joyful, enthusiastic and intense presence." My own personal experience teaching high school and college students is that young people are full of passion. I think of Austin Cruz, a zealous sophomore president of "Celts for Life" at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston. Or RJ Anderson, a recent convert to the Faith who is a freshman at Stanford University and one of the Young Scholars of HLI America. There is Sarah Ryan, another of HLI America's Young Scholars, and an inspiring junior who has recently written two tremendous articles for the Truth and Charity Forum. Lauren Bergeron is a senior at Pope John XXIII high school in Katy, Texas and a true lady of virtue who leads the school's pro-life club. And another high school student, Monica Burke, who recently wrote , upon entering Burgos Cathedral in Spain, "I became keenly aware of God's power and might, and felt compelled to live up to my name as a daughter of God."
I am blessed to know and be inspired by these young people who each desire to be a faithful son or daughter of our Lord. These young people, and so many more, encourage me to echo Pope Benedict's consistent message during World Youth Day, "Do not be afraid to present to young people the message of Jesus Christ in all its integrity, and to invite them to celebrate the sacraments by which he gives us a share in his own life." I have found, and these young people testify to the fact that, as the Holy Father says, "Young People readily respond when one proposes to them, in sincerity and truth, an encounter with Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of Humanity."
Friends, as a new school year is upon us, I encourage you to rededicate yourself to forming young people in the Faith, beginning with your own children and extending to all you encounter. They thirst for His Love and Truth, they desire genuine love and a life of virtue. Teach them, through your own example and in your words. Share with them Pope Benedict's message, "Dear young people, do not be satisfied with anything less than Truth and Love, do not be content with anything less than Christ."
You and your families remain in my prayers as this new school year begins. May God bless you and keep you.
Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Arland K. Nichols
National Director, HLI America
