Dear Families,
I pray that the Lord is blessing you throughout this Lenten season, and I will be praying for you all during the Triduum this week!
President Lazenby’s words last week resonated with me, as he focused on the importance of the work you are doing with your families, and the necessity of community for all of us to fulfill the mission God has given to us. These are important and true things for us to consider.
This mission is about getting people to Heaven.
That becomes clearer and clearer to us as the culture around us moves further away from that vision.
In the words of Pope Pius XI, “Christian parents must also understand that they are...to educate...children who are to become members of the Church of Christ, to raise up fellow-citizens of the Saints, and members of God's household." (Casti Connubii, 12-13)
That is the foundation of everything we do here at Mother of Divine Grace School, and truly is at the core of our roles as parents, both actively educating our children who are at home with us, and even those who have grown. We ultimately want to be in Heaven with our children and with our entire community.
As Paul said, this mission is critical to save our world. Our culture today ignores Heaven as our final goal and avoids the call to order our actions towards this end at all times. A misunderstanding of human nature, and specifically the nature of the family, has been the cause of many of the erroneous beliefs pushed upon us by modernity. What is a family? What is the goal of the family? And what are the roles of the members of the family? Many people do not know the answers to these questions.
Nature acts for an end. In order to be able to order our actions to this end, we have to first believe that there is an intrinsic purpose that each thing is ordered to, which then helps us find and understand the end. When we lose sight of the proper nature of each thing, we become unable to act for that end. Because of this disconnect from the reality that Heaven is the true goal, families are in crisis throughout the world.
You know that parents understand their children in a way no one else does. They have the grace of the sacrament of marriage, so they have the help of God in this endeavor in a special way. Families are parents and children working together to participate in the common good of society, to act charitably to one another and to society as a whole, and to reach Heaven together. To do that, families need to be educated in the truth.
Our homeschooling children are the hope of the future. They are being raised in a living Catholic culture, within a loving family that models conflict resolution and lifelong commitment. They have real life preparation. They are not of the world, because they are being raised differently. In this lies our hope. Only those who are inspired by truth and motivated by principles can be leaders. Only those who are willing to leave the crowd can direct the crowd.
As homeschoolers, we can provide a truly human, broadening, ordered-to-the-truth education. That is the education of leadership. This is the education that provides us with hope for the future.
Fr. John Hardon famously said, “Only heroic Catholics will survive.” This applies both to our children, and also to those who are currently supporting homeschooling. There is courage in persevering in the sacrifices required to homeschool, sacrifices that so many of you make each and every day.
Thank you for your courage.
As we approach the Passion and Resurrection, I ask that you support the work that we are doing at Mother of Divine Grace School to form these leaders of the future. We have already started giving out Financial Aid for the 2023-2024 school year, and we see that there is so much need.
Many of your fellow homeschooling families are struggling. As inflation affects the cost of necessities, many people are having to cut back just to afford putting food on the table. But you know how important it is to be able to pursue our shared goal of Catholic, classical education at home. Please help us reach those who need aid.
We already have over 70 families applying for Financial Assistance, and any amount you are able to contribute goes a long way to help them. So frequently, a gift of $300 allows a family to be able to enroll when they couldn’t afford to before. As President Lazenby stated previously, with our tuition structure, a gift of $1000 can cover a family’s tuition for the entire year.
Thank you for your generosity.
Please know of my prayers for you and the intentions of your family. If there is something important on your heart, I encourage you to start the Novena for Impossible Requests. It’s not too late to begin! This novena is one that has worked miracles for my family, and I have seen it be an avenue for God’s grace for decades.
May you have a grace-filled Triduum and a blessed Easter season.
God bless you,
Laura Berquist
Founder