Educating our children with the Word of God
When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy
and the happiness of my heart, Because I bore your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
I did not sit celebrating in the circle of merrymakers; Under the weight of
your hand I sat alone because you filled me with indignation. Why is my pain
continuous, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become
for me a treacherous brook, whose waters do not abide! Thus the LORD answered
me: If you repent, so that I restore you, in my presence you shall stand; If
you bring forth the precious without the vile, you shall be my mouthpiece. Then
it shall be they who turn to you, and you shall not turn to them; And I will
make you toward this people a solid wall of brass.
Someone
famous once said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That’s certainly true. Parents lean on lots of civic and church
organizations to help raise their children.
Parents don’t parent alone. But
what are the village people teaching our children? I don’t think many people would argue that
the modern village is moving away from Christian principles and practices. Whenever I think of “the village people” I
think of that colorful pop band from the 1970s who sang, “Y.M.C.A.” Do you remember the hand gestures from that
song? Let’s all stand up and do that
now. (Just kidding.)
Do you know what YMCA
stands for? It’s an acronym meaning
“Young Men’s Christian Association.” It
was founded in 1844 to help young Christian men moving into cities during the industrial
revolution to help them keep Christian values strong. In 2010, however, the YMCA in the United
States re-branded itself to simply, “The Y” and became open to all regardless
of religion, social class, age or sex.
When you remove the “CMA” you’re just left with “Y”: a question without
an answer. Please don’t misunderstand,
I’m sure “The Y” is a good organization that helps a lot of people. But it’s also a good example of what the
village people are teaching our children, or rather, what they’re not teaching
them. Christianity is vanishing from our
culture, and we’re just left with a lot of “whys?”
In the
first reading today, Jeremiah also faces an increasingly anti-religious
culture. The village people of his day
didn’t sing silly songs, instead, they killed the prophets sent by God, and
Jeremiah fears the same fate awaits him.
What does he do? He writes one of
my favorite Scripture passages: Jeremiah 15:16.
It says, “When I discovered your words, I devoured them; they became the
joy and the happiness of my heart.”
Instead of listening to the village people, Jeremiah turned to the Word
of God, and God promised Jeremiah, “I will make you toward this people a solid
wall of brass.” Sometimes, it does NOT
take a village to raise a child; it takes the Word of God and faith.
Your
specific task as Catholic school principals is to give an answer to “The Y” –
spelled “why.” Young people today are
asking lots of “whys” that the village people cannot answer because they have
erased Christ from their name. Of
course, the answer to all our why’s, to all our questions, is always
Christ. Pope St. John Paul II said in
the first line of his first encyclical, “The Redeemer of Man, Jesus Christ, is
the center of the universe and of history.”
Or, as the more eloquent graffiti on our overpasses says, “Jesus is the
answer!” I believe this is “why”
Catholic schools exist: to give parents a partner in raising their children,
someone besides the village people. You
principals must follow the example of Jeremiah by devouring the Word of God,
and so that it becomes the joy and happiness of your hearts. You should scrupulously study Scripture. You will at times have to be a solid wall of
brass against a culture that has given up on Christianity.
Have you ever watched the Youtube
video of the Village people singing, “Y.M.C.A.”? It’s pretty funny. The band is wearing costumes: one is dressed
as a police officer, another as an American Indian, another as an army vet,
another as a construction worker. They
ostensibly represent the American culture.
Can you imagine a showdown between the Village People and Catholic
school principals? “West Side Story” eat
your heart out! But culturally-speaking,
this is exactly what’s happening in the heart of our young people. Who will win: the Village People or a culture
rooted in Christ? This coming year,
teach your children how to devour the Word of God, so that Jesus will be the
joy and happiness of each child’s heart.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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