Dear Families,
I hope you are having a fruitful and prayerful Lent, as we prepare to commemorate the Salvific nature of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
In this penitential season, it has been helpful for me to contemplate the joy that we have in walking the road together, both as Catholics and also, more particularly, as the community of Mother of Divine Grace School.
Our family is the most important work we have entrusted to us by Our Lord, and dedicating ourselves to this work is also the most impactful thing we can do in this current day and age to work to save our world. Pope St. John Paul the Great implores us to “Love the family! Defend and promote it as the basic cell of human society.” He adds, “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. …We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”
In such heavy times, it can seem difficult to know where to turn our attention. But St. John Paul II reminds us of the duties and obligations given to us as parents by the Church to cultivate our family life. “The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom.” (CCC 2207)
You are doing the best work possible in fostering virtue in your home. Not only does this fulfill our duties as parents most directly, but preparing our children to enter the world as a moral leaven in society will bear the most important fruit possible in letting the light of Christ shine in the darkness.
Thank you for the sacrifices you make each and every day for your family.
We have lately been able to see the fruits of our loving community directly! We were grateful to meet with so many of you in Virginia last month, when we held a conference in Blacksburg. It was truly a beautiful time to gather together and be reinvigorated with the mission of our school, hearing fantastic talks from Laura Berquist and inspiring stories of how so many of you came to homeschooling and MODG. We will be doing more community events throughout this year, and hope that we will have the chance to talk to many more of you in person!
It has also been a joy to see our community join together to lift up those who are in need. We recently ran our first book donation drive, and have received hundreds of books thus far from dozens of families. These books will be of great use for our Financial Aid team as they seek to assist those to whom homeschooling has before seemed cost prohibitive. It has been beautiful to see that many of the donations have come from families that previously received Financial Assistance from MODG, and wish to pass on the good fortune in whatever way they can. Thank you for your generosity, and your witness to the love in our community.
We have also opened up our Financial Aid program for the 2023-2024 school year, and our team is hard at work assisting the members of our community who need help.
We anticipate that this year will be the most challenging yet. With the cost of necessities rising, our families that have many children are hit the hardest. When looking at high utilities and food costs, sometimes enrollment is the thing that gets pushed aside, with families being faced with the difficult decision as to whether or not to forgo the benefits of MODG.
But because of you, our community, they are able to stay in our school. With your generosity, last year we gave aid to over 140 families, who would otherwise have been unable to stay enrolled. Thank you for your kindness and your charity.
We ask that you once again prayerfully consider donating to help our families in need. In many instances, $300 can bridge the gap between being able to enroll or not. If you are able, you can sponsor a whole family’s tuition for around $1,000. Any amount that you are able to give is greatly appreciated, and will go a long way to help.
You know how important Catholic education is in our current day. Please help us make sure that all members of our community who truly desire to walk this homeschooling journey with us are able to do so.
Thank you for your prayers and support. We are always praying for you as we continue our journey through Lent and look toward the victory of Easter.
God bless,
Paul Lazenby
President