For the last few years we have sent our oldest child to our beautiful local parish school. The education there has given us and our child many blessings—frequent visits to the church, interaction with the priests, strengthened connection to the parish and diocese, as well as a sense of community. The list of wonderful things goes on. However, recent events have driven home to us how quickly and surely education can be compromised.
A woman civilly married to another woman began volunteering regularly at the school, in a public capacity. In other words, a lesbian openly living in defiance of Catholic moral teaching began acting as a representative of the school. From what I understand, she has never said anything to undermine the moral teachings of the Faith. Honestly, she doesn’t need to say anything. Simply by publically modeling her alternative lifestyle while serving as a volunteer at a Catholic school, she undermines the teachings of the Faith. We had to have a serious conversation with our little son regarding what makes a marriage in order to clear up confusion which had arisen in his mind because of this situation. Furthermore, I know that he is not the only child confused by this particular volunteer.
After our objections went up the line of command, through principle and priest all the way up to the bishop, we received news that the bishop will continue to allow civilly married lesbians to volunteer. We’ve decided to commence homeschooling in the fall.
This hot-button issue not only bears the unique scars of our culture, it also ushers in a great deal of emotional and intellectual confusion. Let us lay the foundation by turning to Christ. When calling his disciples, the Lord commands them to love—“Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). It sounds so simple, so straightforward. Nonetheless, even among the Apostles, personal examples caused confusion regarding what discipleship means. In Galatians 2:11-13, St. Paul rebukes St. Peter himself for his poor example, and the scandal it caused. The call to discipleship, to love, rests heavily upon good or bad examples, because the examples clarify, “What is love?” And, “How does Christ love?”
What does this mean for Catholic education? The essential nature of love must be understood without any confusion, in order for that truth to be conveyed with equal clarity to children. Since the conveyance of the truth rests in large part upon those modeling it before students, all adults in positions of leadership in a Catholic school need to be living witnesses of their Faith. Therefore, to have any adult—be it staff, teacher, or volunteer—working in a Catholic school and openly modeling a life which contradicts Catholic teaching undermines the integrity of the education as a whole.
According to Pope Paul VI in his Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis, “The specific purpose of a Catholic education is the formation of boys and girls who will be good citizens of this world, loving God and neighbor and enriching society with the leaven of the gospel, and who will also be citizens of the world to come, thus fulfilling their destiny to become saints.” Catholic education is primarily to form children so that they might more easily love God and their fellow men, and become saints. In other words, Catholic education exists for the purpose of making disciples, whose entire lives center on Christ. This type of formation requires not solely a solid course in religion, but also a formation of virtuous habits in both action and thought. Children learn virtues, both intellectual and moral, by first imitating what they see in adults who have charge over them. Pope St. John Paul II stressed this point in an address to U.S. bishops in 1998: “If students in Catholic schools are to gain a genuine experience of the Church, the example of teachers and others responsible for their formation is crucial: the witness of adults in the school community is a vital part of the school’s identity.” Only after imitation has become a firm habit does understanding truly sink in. For one cannot grasp the truth unless the habits necessary for understanding it have already been embraced. The desire for truth must be instilled by first establishing the habits necessary to receive it. Therefore those who surround children, especially when they represent Catholic education, must be models of Catholic behavior.
A situation in which the truth is verbally conveyed, even by excellent teachers, but meets with contradiction from others in a school setting inevitably compromises the integrity of the entire education. Faith by its nature cannot be isolated within religion class. Rather, it requires integration into all other subjects, and especially must be put into practice. Archbishop J. Michael Miller, in his book The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools, remarks: “(I)f teachers and administrators demonstrate the individualistic and competitive ethic that now marks so much public education, they will fail to inspire students with the values of solidarity and community, even if they praise those values verbally. The same can be said about a failure to give clear witness to the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage and the inviolability of human life.” Children, struggling to understand the meaning of intellectual truths, look to see: what does this truth mean for me, what does it look like when lived? And to do this they watch how representative adults live. If adults in Catholic schools provide examples contrary to Catholic truths, children come, quite naturally, to the conclusion, “Ah, well, those things I have been taught must be something I can pick and choose from if I like, because so-and-so is Catholic and does such-and-such, and it all seems fine.”
Now, there may be a fair number of children who will complete their education in a confused environment without spiritual harm. Nevertheless, a confused school culture introduces an uphill battle to their education. Those whose parents carefully form them at home, constantly on the alert for error, will have the best odds. But it is an injustice to expect children to make arguments to their peers, or to spend their time of formation in a battle for the truth. Without proper formation, this approach is like a spiritual Gallipoli: sending children into violent battle without proper defense. A few brave souls may outrun the rest—still, the battleground will be strewn with the fallen, and many lost who should not have faced the guns.
In these times, issues of sexual morality and identity have come to the fore. Therefore, as the culture at large has become more hostile toward the truth, all the more must Catholic educators and institutions become bold beacons of truth about the human person. According to Archbishop Miller, “Catholic theology teaches that grace builds on nature. Because of this complementarity of the natural and the supernatural, Catholic educators should have a sound understanding of the human person that addresses the requirements of both the natural and the supernatural perfection of the children entrusted to their care.”
After my husband and I raised concerns to the school administration regarding civilly married lesbians volunteering, I witnessed a whole slew of arguments from other parents defending the situation. These defenses included slogans such as, “Love is love,” implying, “What harm can there be to tolerate perfectly nice, lovely people donating their time?”, or even, “Two great women loving each other—what’s the harm in that?” Here’s the harm: in a Catholic school, the entire purpose of education rests upon conveying a particular kind of love: one that is sacrificial, fruitful, and faithful. Anything that muddies the transmission of that truth cannot be tolerated as a representative of Catholic education. It would foolish for me to tell my children the importance of eating healthy, while loading up my own plate with chips and candy. I cannot expect them to take to heart my message, when my own example brings confusion. Nor does it make sense to say “food is food,” because the nature of my message is that some foods are healthy and some are not. Similarly, the notion “love is love” is unacceptable, because the whole purpose of Catholic education is to teach that all loves are not equal. Disciples are called to love as Christ loves us.
Bad examples of love will lead astray, as St. Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 15:33: “bad company, they say, can corrupt noble minds.” Those of us united in Christ are to be known by our love. Our Lord said, “The mark by which all men will know you for my disciples will be the love you bear one another” (John 13:35). Notice, our Lord doesn’t say we will be known because we’re awfully nice. “Nice” falls flat when it comes to being a disciple of the Lord. Most people are nice, at least to those whom they like. Nice people don’t necessarily lay down their lives for the Truth, nor are nice people necessarily filled with zeal for the kingdom. No, it takes a whole lot more than nice to win the kingdom. If the goal of Catholic education is to raise up disciples, inheritors of the Kingdom of God, what love is must be understood, taught, and exemplified.
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What’s your diocese? The situation you describe is intolerable. Contact the nuncio and, if that fails, the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome.
Every Catholic school in the country has a “morals” clause, which is strenuously enforced. If for paid personnel, per force, for volunteers.
It is the diocese of Lansing, Michigan.
I’m trying to decide what I think about the decision to let her volunteer – what would I think if I was a parent? First, I disagree with the author’s premise that she is a representative of the school. I see her as a representative of the community that supports the school. So I think there is a different standard of expectation. I can’t judge the rightness of the bishop’s response without a more complete picture because I can see the case for removal and for remaining.
She clearly shouldn’t be employed by the Church (if she is open about her marriage or promoting it as acceptable), but not sure if I object as strongly as the author to letting her volunteer. I think it would depend on what she does and why she wants to volunteer. I understand this is different from volunteering at a soup kitchen or bake sale because it involves work primarily in an environment with children – and they learn from observing/modeling/trusting adults. So we must be vigilant about who volunteers. Her volunteering is not just functional, it can also be formative. So character and behavior matter.
You say she has not said anything contrary to church teaching. Is she trying to normalize her same-sex relationship in front of the children or any other overt actions against church teaching? (swearing, unmodest, disrespecting religious items or beliefs in front of kids) If not, it seems she is modeling good behavior not sinful behavior.
Does she help some kids work on reading and math? Does she help the teacher prepare materials for class, drive on field trips, supervise recess, etc. I don’t see the problem with that kind of volunteering. Does she teach sex ed? Lead a girls group? Talk a lot about her family life. Counsel teens questioning their sexuality? Then yes, there would likely arise near occasions of sin where she would be apt to promote contrary teaching. She should not be given that role.
I can see if she talked about her wife and their relationship casually and as acceptable while she volunteered, how this would confuse children. The school would be within its rights to ask her to stop such talk or stop volunteering if she won’t. And if the school didn’t do anything, it would be negligent, I’d be an upset parent and remove my child.
But if that topic doesn’t come up – which it might not if she’s just there to tutor or make copies – I don’t see her living in a marriage the church doesn’t recognize as itself being grounds to bar her from volunteering, as it would be grounds not to hire her.
Say her marriage status does come up – the kids learn she is married to a woman – but she doesn’t talk about it or promote it. The parent could explain to the child that this woman is doing a good thing by serving others and we share the belief with her that it is important to help children learn. But go on to say we do not share her beliefs about what marriage is and we believe it is only between a man and a woman. And encourage the child to treat her with respect as an adult and fellow child of God, in spite of her actions or beliefs. But also pray for her to turn from that way of living and follow Jesus more closely. Tell the child to feel free to talk to the parent or another adult if this volunteer (or any volunteer) does or says something that confuses the child or makes him uncomfortable. The approach depends on the age of the child.
I think this prepares the child for living as a Catholic in this world and also builds a bond of communication and trust between parents and children. If the child then says he/she is very uncomfortable/confused to the point it causes personal distress or avoidance of school, the parent does well to seek the placement of the child or volunteer in a different environment. If the teacher/principal/bishop will not remove the volunteer, then I completely agree it is in the parent and child’s interest to remove the child from that environment. But I do not necessarily think the church is in the wrong to allow her to continue to volunteer. It really depends on the individual volunteer – what she is doing, saying – and how children are affected. Is just my child confused? Is she really good at helping some children and they are benefiting from her presence? The church and school have to weigh this.
Perhaps the woman is married to another woman but she is growing closer to God and volunteering is a result of that growth. Maybe she is now living chastely but not completely sure what to do about the marriage. Maybe she is discovering her female desire to nurture the young and her spiritual adviser suggested she volunteer. Maybe this volunteering, the connection to joyful Christians, is part of a path that leads her to finally leave that life to be closer to Jesus.
Or perhaps she is growing away from God and wants to take all the young Catholics with her and looking at volunteering as an opportunity to subvert them.
You clearly don’t want the later person to volunteer, but you can’t tell what kind of individual you are getting based just on the fact she is currently in a marriage with a woman. I might ask her why she is volunteering before determining her suitability for it. I would hope the school would do this and I wouldn’t hesitate to ask if they did.
Another example I can think of – If a Muslim family sent their child to this Catholic school (for a good education) and the mother, a devout Muslim, wearing traditional modest dress (ie – open about her beliefs), wanted to help in the classroom, I don’t think I’d object to that as long as she wasn’t openly undermining the Church in her words or actions. I do not think her choice to openly live in denial of Christ’s divinity (also a grave sin in Catholic understanding), while a disqualification for being a model of Christian life, is in itself a disqualification from helping students or teachers. She can still model service to the children and show it is possible for those with different/incorrect beliefs to act in accord with God’s will and work toward a common goal. She represents the community the church serves, not the church itself, so I wouldn’t hold her to the same standard of belief.
And perhaps the greater exposure to Catholics and Catholic beliefs would spark a conversion of the volunteers who are not living the faith. In the Bible, there are several examples of how encounters with Christ or his disciples prompt non-disciples to follow Christ and how Christ did not stay away from those who were not Jews or not his disciples.
However he also says let the little children come to him, so if a volunteer were blocking a child from going to the Lord (through confusion, distrust), then the volunteer should not be near that child. But whether to relocate the volunteer or the child depends on the particular circumstances.
I think the parent is right to remove her child in this case, but can’t judge if the school/bishop are wrong to let her continue to volunteer without more details about her circumstances and motivation.
Take all your arguments and substitute a racist KKK member, who has a public neo-Nazi website (so the views are publicly known), for a married lesbian. Would you be so understanding about having that person volunteer? No, didn’t think so. And, believe me, the principal and the bishop would swiftly say that such a person is not an appropriate role model for children and shouldn’t be a volunteer in the school community. No matter how kind or giving such a person, he would not be accepted. But a married lesbian is. Hmm…
When you need a thousand words to explain your position, you are sliding down the modernism/relativism slope. The woman should not be at the school in any capacity. Allowing her to volunteer gives the appearance of approval and leads people astray — especially the children.
“When you need a thousand words to explain your position, you are sliding down the modernism/relativism slope.”
Um, by that logic, though, the author of this article is also sliding down the modernism/relativism slope…
Okay, so by that “logic” how does one write an article without using many words ?
It’s interesting that the author quotes Archbishop J. Michael Miller in her article against lesbians sending children to Catholic schools. Archbishop Miller is the bishop of my diocese, Vancouver, and there are lesbians sending children to my sons’ parish school. I spoke to the parish priest about this and he said the lesbians agreed to abide by (not challenge?) the school’s Catholic identity. Which begs the question: doesn’t their lifestyle belie their so-called agreement?
I’m not surprised that this has happened at this parish since the LGBT community and Mlive had attacked the parish priest last year on numerous occasions for standing up against the Non-Discrimination Ordinance that was past in the city. It is there to protect the LGBTQ’s if they are mistreated or offended in the least way. The fine is $500 per day to those who are accused. We collected 900 signatures from citizens, three times the amount needed to stop the ordinance. However, when it went to court the liberal Catholic judge simply threw them out. We wrote to the Republican Christian Attorney General to be told that he couldn’t help us.
The newly elected LGBTQ activist Mayor portrayed himself as a married man to a woman with a small child, yet many know that it is a show. This city is his platform and he wants to make it to the White House someday. We even had parishioners who volunteered and worked on his campaign. He was invited to read books to the children at this school recently and was invited my one of the students. He had his picture taken with Our Lady’s statue behind him. In another picture at a pancake breakfast he just happened to have the crucifix above his head, all the while the activist has said to two pastors that he has nothing but disdain for Christ and Christians.
On a different note…..about 30 years ago I graduated from the Catholic High School here and had a nun who shared a poster with 100 condoms on it and taught us that we needed to use them since we were going to have pre-marital sex anyway. After I graduated there was heavy sex education taught for one day and how to use condoms. There was a message being given to the teens that this was acceptable behavior.
If the children at this school see the volunteer, who looks and acts like a man, and hears the son constantly telling the school children that he has two mommies then the children will think this is is acceptable. I think think this couple is there for a reason to purposely shake things up and perhaps sent by the mayor himself or his followers. Perhaps they are friends of his as their LGBT group has been growing over the last year, even with a protest walk downtown. They just happened to stop in front of the priests’ home to chant about love with signs and all.
About twenty to twenty-five years ago there was a practicing homosexual theatre teacher at the high school here and no one did anything about it. How many teens did he influence to lead this type of lifestyle in their future?
Fast forward to the newest Bishop, at least he sent a letter with our Pastor last year to be read off at an overcrowded and packed city council meeting at a theatre with around 1,000 persons in attendance. The letter was written to discourage the Non-discrimination ordinance from being passed by the council members.(Many wanted the voters to vote, but the mostly progressive council members wanted to vote on it instead because they new it would not pass if the citizens voted on it.)We couldn’t hear what the pastor was reading off because the protestant pro-LGBTQ activists were booing and hissing at him. The conservative Mayor at the time should’ve silenced them at the time, but did not.
Our very Catholic city is under spiritual attack. The new progressive Mayor had his inauguration gathering at the local Masonic Lodge that has been closed for years. The Mayor’s dream is to get it up and running again. It clearly says in Latin on the building that the building is dedicated to Satan.
There is an agenda here behind the lesbian volunteers at this school and they want to know how much we will take. In the meantime, large Catholic families are pulling there children out of this school and either homeschooling or going to another parish school in town. So much for trying to keep the doors of the school open for those who follow the church’s teachings. We were one of four cities at one time across the U.S. that had the most vocations coming from our many Catholic parishes and schools. Please pray for the parents and their families who are trying to abide by God’s teachings in all of this. May God have mercy on this city and those who abide in it or attend Holy Mass in this parish, as well as the school administrators, priests, and children.
To the Nun and others who are under the belief that teens are “going to do it anyway” gives me the image of two zoo keepers who just received a male and a female gorilla. They are standing outside the cage looking at the gorillas saying we better separate them because we know they are going to do it anyway. Stop treating our youth as animals! God gave them a free will and an intellect.
I say, “Amen and Amen again to your viewpoint. Thanks for being a true Catholic believer.
Yes! Amen! Fantastic!
This is not the first incidence and certainly not the last. Catholic schools are immoral beast. A few years ago, I was up for a position with Catholic school, and was turned down. The person who took the position had 3 kids by 3 different fathers, and was living and not married to the father of the 3rd child. I was bewildered. However, I soon found out such immoral employees are like this in Catholic schools across America. In fact, I know of a now deceased individual who was openly gay and a teacher, and now deceased principal who was openly gay – both led Catholic schools in my conservative hometown. Add, a teacher who had affair with a married man. All 3 keep their jobs, and I couldn’t get a job in the diocese. Maybe I was too smart, as I ended up working in public education. I do get to teach Catholic kids – conservative values.
The problem today between what the Church/Scripture/Tradition teach and the modernist view of “love” is complete sloppiness of thought and expression by many in the Church. In the modernist’s mind love cannot be expressed without sex, i.e. if there is love then sex must follow and be allowed. Having homosexual tendencies is not in itself evil or sinful. However, it does not follow that the homosexual must be free to have sexual expression with the one that is loved. The two things are separable. One homosexual can love another as a wonderful person but refuse to indulge in sexual activity. The absence of sex is not a mortal illness and to my knowledge no one has ever died from lack of sex, yet modern society certainly makes it sound like that. The modernist cannot accept this situation….it is a limit on one’s freedom (the limit being set by God of course). The real objective of the homosexual modernist is primarily sex. The “love” may or may not be present, but lust certainly is. It is a well documented fact that homosexual “marriages” do not generally last very long. We in the Church must not be dragged into the fog of “one who has love MUST also be free to have sex.” As the song says, they go together like a horse and carriage! Forget “nice”…let’s speak the truth for a change.
The drift from scripture is pandemic. No one in that diocese, Bishop included, that accepts this volunteer has the fear of God vis a vis what He inspired about lesbian acts in Romans 1:26-27
“ 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.“
The bad habit many clergy developed was to see God in passages they loved….and Paul in passages they didn’t love. Years ago U.S. Catholic Magazine inter alia fostered this dichotomy. Vatican II in Dei Verbum said the opposite…” both testaments in all their parts have God as their author.”. Vatican II in this area is very old school and was ignored in this area resulting in widespread cafeteria Bible verse picking. Did Popes do it too? Read Romans again but this time 13:4.
My wife and I, parents of 4, had experiences like Elizabeth and “CC” above. After 2 years, we pulled our children out of the Catholic school, because there was a woman openly teaching the children that abortion was a civil right.
Interestingly, when my second daughter had to return to the parish for “confirmation class,” the adult leader conducted an astonishing social experiment – stating that the class should divide itself into 2 groups: on one side, those who are “pro-choice” and on the other side, those who are pro-life. The class split in two: half of the boys went to each side, and every girl but one, my daughter, went to the pro-choice side. The girls mocked my daughter, and the “confirmation teacher” said nothing to affirm the witness of the pro-Life teens.
The parish where this took place is considered a leading parish in the diocese. Indeed, we ourselves are registered there and attend Mass there, because our local parish experiments with things like gender-ideology rainbow banners above the altar, for the periodic “accompaniment” homilies (the order that runs the parish are strong proponents of the LGBT movement.
It is a desolate time to be a Catholic parent. We have learned that there are few who can be trusted to teach the Truth.
I used to teach in Catholic high schools in California. After over fifteen years of witnessing faculty and staff being counterexamples to Catholic faith by having same-sex relationships and being public about it at school with the support of the administration and the bishop, after students were indoctrinated with homosexual propaganda at assemblies and at Mass that told them “love is love”, after religion faculty refused to defend or accurately teach Catholic sexual morality and in fact told students that the Church would change its teaching on marriage and homosexuality to catch up with the world’s progress, and after fighting the good fight to the point of tears and aggravation and despair, I quit.
Good for you for pulling your kids out of the school. Very sad that this is going on in a Catholic school.
What I’m reading here in comments about dioceses means I’ve underestimated the chaos by far. You’d need a Pope who is perfectly orthodox and who loves waking each day in order to rule…rule…dioceses around the world via video conferencing with regional Cardinals from 8AM til 4PM each day of the week. Then the Cardinals video conference with Bishops in order to clean the swamp if such pertains to the dioceses under their region. Media has tricked the Church into electing intellects..authors… not rulers as Popes….until Francis. But all three since 1979 put ruling and watching out for diocese chaos as last on their agenda. Ergo….the two intellect
popes chastised and dechaired famous erroneous authors….Curran and Hans Kung….but that’s not ruling diocesan chaos at all. Dioceses got this bad by Popes not being vigilant about the diocesan level. In the Navy, the Commander of a ship is responsible for every little section of chaos and failure on that ship when he is evaluated. Evaluation of Popes is usually flattery mainly…especially if they pleased a sizable active Catholic group in some area. Then their weaknesses are glossed over.
SPRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
The faithful, that is the true committed disciples of Christs’ faith community in my paame sex marriage is a demonic attack on the family — Cardinal Sarah
It is active in my parish also where my granddaughter is enrolled.
The influence of the intrinsically evil satanic poison of the secular same sex union is working to divide, confuse, burden and attack the family because of one member of a same sex union is given permission to be a volunteer at the parish school.
This satanic poison is an attack on the duty and obligation of Christs faithful mothers and fathers to assure their children to be properly raised as disciples of Jesus.
This distressful situation should be terminated. This satanic poison must be cut out of Christ’s faithful community parish school as soon as possible.
It is not only unreasonable, but it is unjust that this satanic poison should be tolerated or supported in any way whatsoever.
What a tragedy that the influence of the presence of one person in a same sex union has the force to oblige a faithful father and mother to remove their child or children from a Catholic parish school.
Anything that attacks the family is evil for the family, therefore for society since the foundation of society is the family.
When will the shepherds of the church ever get the backbone and stand up in defending the teachings of Christ?
I am sorry that I did not proof read it more carefully. Ignore it. I will redo the comment. Thank you.
The fact that this teacher has not opened up on her lifestyle. If she did there would be hell to pay. If anybody hasn’t noticed there are nearly all lay people filling the teacher’s jobs in Catholic schools. If we eliminate the lay folks and insist on a return of the teaching Nuns we will have solved the problem… I think! Get the Nuns out of cloister.
“Get the Nuns out of cloister.”
Cloistered nuns were not the teaching orders. We need both; the solution is not to eliminate the cloister.
The cloister religious is absolutely necessary for the spiritual fight. Too often, we in the modern world think that we must do something physical to be worth anything. Prayer is sometimes looked upon as “wasting time”. Unfortunately, this was the prevalent mid-set after Vatican II. There must be a balance between the active and seemingly passive forms of prayer and actions.
An issue highly misunderstood is same sex attraction. Most believe it’s inborn. However study reveals and experience indicates that it can be learned. In fact most homosexual behavior can be shown to be learned behavior adapted often due to the kinds of teaching now occurring in the Catholic school system. And by liberal parents who believe love is love not matter. In that sense it is sinful. The rarity of someone born with the disorder doesn’t affect the overall trend toward same sex expression. If we admit this we can perhaps turn the tide by acknowledging that cultural attitudes explicit in music literature peer pressure and even the misguidance of many Catholic bishops and priests is largely responsible.
Too late…. is should read—The faithful, that is the true committed disciples of Christs’ faith community in my parish say this prayer at the end of every Sundays’ Sacred Liturgy.
I ask pardon. T
This 76 old grandpa has just got to be more attentive.
The latest homosexualist degeneracy at Catholic high schools is to permit students to bring same-sex dates with them to formal dances: prom, winter ball, homecoming, and so forth.
The schools are very quiet about this, not publicizing the policy, but they make clear to students and staff that a dance bid/ticket is for a student and a guest who does not have to be the opposite sex of the student. They attempt to justify the policy by saying that students may bring friends as their guests, and friends don’t have to be the opposite sex. While true as far as it goes, the schools do not police same-sex, obviously romantic close dancing at the events, nor do they care that this is one more way that homosexual relationships are being normalized in the school culture.
When I had to chaperone dances, administrators were adamant that chaperones were not to break up same-sex couples slow dancing while embracing. At a Catholic school!!!
Oh, yes, people who are not actually at Catholic schools don’t know how bad things have become.
Well written, though sad that this is something your family, and especially the children of that school, have to deal with. Will have your family, the lesbian ‘couple’ and the diocese in our prayers.
Thank you so much for your kind comment, Clare, and even greater thanks for the prayers.
Elizabeth, as a homeschool mom of 6 (12 – 21) Took them out of Catholic school – BEST DECISION WE EVER MADE!! God bless you for your courage. Prayers for strength and perseverance.
Since when did Catholic schools have anything to do with love?
Since God is love and He sent His Love, Jesus, to redeem and bring salvation to all mankind; and the first Catholic school is the Catholic home where children learn to love Jesus. The parish school is where the children are helped to continue to grow in love of Jesus with the goal of becoming a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus.
And to be a faithful disciple of Jesus one must accept all His teaching and then one will know the truth of love and this will make him free.
And if the Pope himself agreed with the bishop, that the woman be allowed to volunteer, then what would you do?
Anyone involved in a same sex union, Catholic or not, and freely chooses to publicly live as a married couple, has automatically chosen to put themselves outside the Catholic community.
Why? Because this public lifestyle is morally intrinsically evil and therefore against Christ’s teaching.
By their choice they exclude themselves and family from any kind of participation in the Catholic community.
Examples:
1—placing their children in a Catholic School or even offering to do services in the school
2—taking part in liturgical functions as lecturing, ushering, being a greeter,
3—teaching in the CCD program.
Putting it bluntly, they have ostracized (excluded) themselves from being part of the Catholic Community.
Not everything that the pope says is infallible and must be believed as doctrine. Even Popes have been known to make errors in judgments when they violated their vow of celibacy but they never tried to justify it by declaring it not sinful.
Sometimes it seems there are too many who talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. And I might say this another way — too many write the write, but don’t fight the fight.
Elizabeth not only has —“write the write,” she did “fight the fight.” The Lord bless you and your husband for your faithful discipleship by putting into action graces of the Holy Spirit received at Confirmation making you soldiers for Christ.
Thank you so much for your support, Richard. Keep us in your prayers. God bless.
This heartbreaking story reminds us of the wisdom of the old adage: “Actions speak louder than words”. Passive acceptance of behavior is a form of instruction for our children. If Jimmy is never corrected for being disrespectful to Sally, then he will grow up to be a poor husband and father. Silence is not neutrality. The false premise that true love requires sexual expression as its ultimate form is one of the unquestioned foundations of the 2015 Supreme Court case declaring unconstitutional all civil marriage laws that conform to the actual definition of marriage. I humbly recommend that you read “When The Echo Dies: Marriage Is Unconstitutional” to learn more and consider the need for the Church to be the Church rather then a cultural echo chamber for the good of society as a whole.
You will make a GREAT homeschooling Mama!!! Welcome to the most blessed, wonderful world of homeschooling and praised be to God that you and your husband are doing what is RIGHT and protecting your children from blatant disregard for the TRUTH of the Scriptures: homosexuality is an abomination unto the Lord. {Leviticus 20:13}
You are very kind, Jennifer. I was myself homeschooled, and loved it. I look forward to beginning this new chapter with my own children. God bless.
God bless you and your family.
What a well-written article! I hope you take Father’s advice and report everyone involved in this debacle to save other souls.
And I wish you well in your homeschooling efforts. I’ve been homeschooling two of my kids for four years and have met some very wonderful, faithful Catholic families. Check out Catholic Schoolhouse if you’re interested in a classical approach; there may be a group which meets in your area.
Thank you so much for the support and the recommendation! I was homeschooled myself, and had a wonderful experience. I think that the Lord is leading us into a way of life in which we will thrive. God bless.
Hi Elizabeth. I have no idea if you will ever see this, but I’ve been trying to find an email for you. I can’t seem to locate one anywhere. Can you please email me? I would like to let you know about a wonderful project I’m working on that I think you will love. My email is: adpatrem@juno.com
God bless you!
Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC
Thank you for your message Father! I’ve emailed you!
I’ll be using “Food Is Food”. Great line! Maybe a big sign with a salad and Big Mac over a rainbow flag.
We’ve three children in the Kalamazoo diocese, and we have zero complaints about the small parochial school we’ve been sending our kids. This next term we’ll be homeschooling for a variety of reasons unrelated to where my kids have been going. That having been said, I’m generally certain I would have freaked out if I’d learned our diocese was allowing this… there’s more than plenty of the secular world available in the public schools, it’s unacceptable to allow it into the sanctity of our Roman Catholic schools.
The only difference between many Catholic schools in my area and the local public schools is the weekly Mass. And in fact, I have found our public high school to be more morally grounded than our Catholic high schools. Our public high school’s drama club performed a moving and thought provoking the Diary of Anne Frank. LaSalle high school performed the Wedding Singer, an assault on Christina values set to music. (My complaints to the principal were ignored).
After sending two daughters to Catholic high school, we chose a better option for our son.
My son memorized more Bible verses in his first quarter as a freshman at a Christian high school, than he and his 2 sisters memorized in combined 20 years of private Catholic education (elementary and high school).
Thank you for documenting this, Elizabeth. I couldn’t agree more.
The faithful must understand that situations like this are only the opening volley. They are trial runs and they are probing for weakness, and as this wonderful author and mother notes, they found one in this bishop.
They are coming full force for the Church, and they will start in her primary institutions: The Family and the Priesthood, and it will come disguised as a gentle sheep in her schools, and in the Sacrament of Marriage.
We CANNOT run from this fight. We CANNOT give one inch of the battlefield here, for it will spider into every facet of parish life, and those weak of faith and practice will see the fallacy and simply leave – if they have not left already.
I applaud this brave mother, along with her husband for making a stand.
We need more strong Catholic men to lead this fight, so the mothers don’t have to do it in our place.
If you lead with courage, and Jesus Christ as your leader, these brave and wonderful will support you, get behind you and add their prayers and their graces to your efforts.
STOP THIS MADNESS, while you still can!
Elizabeth Anderson, I strongly support your action and your reasoning for it, and I sympathize with you in having to give up the Catholic school that your family had grown to love so much. You are wise to see the danger here. And we must not forget the slippery slope … first this, then what? The Boy Scouts of America’s slide downwards is a great model for people to consider when they deem these types of actions harmless. it starts small and just slowly gains momentum until the organization is no longer what the organization was meant to be. Good eye, and keep up the vigilance and prayer for your children!
One last comment. Read St Paul writing to the Corinthians — 5: 9 t0 11.
The lesbian volunteer was raised a Catholic, graduated from a Catholic high school. St Paul is speaking in reference to this very situation — she and her partner bear the title “brother”, but now by their free choice fallen away from the Catholic community.
If you are looking for a third option between diocesan schools and homeschooling, I encourage you to check out NAPCIS schools if you have any in your area. We had similar concerns about our children receiving a good grounding in the faith in a diocesan school, but didn’t feel capable of homeschooling. We are very pleased with our independent Catholic school and believe that it offers the best of both worlds.
http://napcis.org/
I’m so sad to have read this and many of the comments. I’m ashamed by association. People are different. Teach your children what you will, but I hope it includes love, compassion, and an appreciation of our differences.
Kristen,
Biblical standards on marriage and family don’t preclude loving the sinner or those confused. Just the opposite.
Teaching what is true is a part of real charity.
Amen to that.
Bravo! Well said. A slam dunk on this issue. And might I say that the just like our children shouldn’t be put in the position of fighting this ideological battle, it is also true that the spiritual children of the church should not be left to fight this battle without the spiritual fathers, who are supposed to protect and defend the flock.
Great article, and God bless you and your family. The attack of the demonic LGBTQ etc etc brigade is increasing, and at the same time, our hierarchy seem in the main to be hirelings who are afraid of upsetting anyone, except faithful Catholics. The Truth is offensive when you first hear it, and especially if you’re not living it, however, the Truth must be confirmed in a respectful manner. We must all render an account to our Lord…there appears many who have forgotten this!