“…Surveys of homeschoolers show that a majority of such [homeschooling] families (by some estimates, up to 90 percent) are driven by conservative Christian beliefs, and seek to remove their children from mainstream culture,”

The above was in a Harvard magazine (and reported on by Lifesite News – please see the below link) about the horrors of home schooling. And what were these horrors? Was it low test scores? No, all the research I could find showed that home schooled students do better than public school students.

Was it social isolation? No, home school parents have a network between them and students participate in town sports, cheer, dance classes and other activities with their peers.

So what is it that is it that is so concerning? According to the article, it’s because the majority of families that home school – have Christian beliefs.

Yikes, we can’t have that! Just imagine, the home schooled children could grow up loving their neighbor, being concerned for the poor, not lying, not stealing or bearing false witness.

The other concern was that parents wanted to keep their children from mainstream culture. Unbelievable! Think of all the things home schooled students will not learn – that there is no such thing as biological reality (a man can become a woman and a woman can become a man), that human beings only have value if they are wanted (otherwise they can be aborted), that weather changes means the world is going to end in 10 years (even though weather has been changing from the beginning of the world), that CO2 is bad (but without it there would be no plant life) and that the world is overpopulated (give everyone 10 square feet and the whole world can fit into Texas).

And don’t forget the hypocrisy. We love diversity (except for Christians), we need to be tolerant of everyone (except for Christians) and everyone’s opinion is valid (except for Christians).

So what are some of the mainstream culture values? Denial of God, sex without marriage, child sacrifice (abortion), denial of objective truth, socialism and communism. If something is sinful, it is most likely a “mainstream” value.

God bless the Christian parents who are able to home school their children and the parents who teach Christian values even if the students are in public school.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matt 18:6

You can read the Lifesite News article at the link below.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/harvard-mag-attacks-homeschooling-parents-who-choose-it-are-extreme-religious-ideologues

 

Something happened in the last few years that is disturbing.

People began to use the phrase “my truth”, “his/her truth” or “your truth”.

Let’s think about that a moment. I can say, “Golden vanilla double stuff Oreos are the best cookies in the world.” Is that truth? Someone might say, “well, that’s your truth”. No, absolutely wrong. The truth is Oreos are cookies. That they are the best in the world – that’s my OPINION.

Opinion does not create reality. Opinion has to do with likes and dislikes. Truth is about facts. Truth equals reality. There is no “my truth” and “your truth” there is only THE truth.

But we live in a world where young people are being taught relativism. That whatever they think or feel becomes reality. That there is no such thing as objective reality. (What’s true for you may not be true for me).

Truth is based on facts and not on feelings. Years ago people thought the earth was flat. Everyone felt that way and everyone agreed. That did not change the reality of the shape of the earth. Feelings and agreement don’t make reality

Opinions and feelings are fine, but you should never equate them with truth.

The danger with not acknowledging truth and using relativism, is that anything goes. You cannot have laws. I could take your stuff because I don’t “feel” like stealing is wrong.

And what if relativism was used against human beings? It already was. The “feeling” and “opinion” that certain people weren’t human led to the holocaust, slavery and abortion.

It is so important to be able to distinguish between opinion and truth. How do you do that? Consider the source, do your own research and ask questions. Remember you’re looking for facts.

So why do you need to know the truth? We need the truth in order to make good decisions – the small and larger decisions we make all day – in our life, our job, our finances.

One last thing. The truth is sometimes hard to hear. You may not always like the truth and there will always be people who refuse to accept the truth. Searching for truth and speaking the truth takes courage.

TFP Student Action has a great video on relativism. Here is the URL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_PhMNg01KM

St. Joseph’s Day, also known as the Feast of Saint Joseph, is the feast day for St. Joseph – which falls on March 19th each year. Saint Joseph is believed by Christians to have been the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the step-father of Jesus Christ. In Poland and Canada, it is a Patronal Feast Day and is Father’s Day in some Catholic countries such as Italy and Spain. In Switzerland, it is a public holiday.

A tradition:
In Sicily, it is also believed that if a woman manages to sneak a lemon off of St. Joseph’s Table on this day, then she have better luck finding a husband. It is also customary for people to wear red on this day and to indulge themselves with doughnuts and crème puffs. In Italy, Spain and Portugal, St. Joseph’s Day is Father’s Day.

On January 3rd we will celebrate the “Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus”.

Scripture is full of wonderful words about our Lord’s name – “And in His name the Gentiles will hope.” (Matt 12:21)

How His name drives away evil – “Paul became annoyed, turned, and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ Then it came out at that moment.” (Acts 16:18)

How we should use His Holy name – “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Col 3:17) “…giving thanks always and for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” (Eph 5:20)

And the effects of His name – “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

There are also warnings in scripture about how NOT to use God’s name – “You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) In Leviticus it states that using God’s name as a curse is punishable by stoning. It is so important to use Our Lord’s name properly, that God made it one of the ten commandments.

Using God’s name properly means you are either talking to Him or about Him.

While just about everyone knows that using God’s name as a curse, or in anger is sinful, there are others ways of using His name in a disrespectful way.

Using the phrase “Oh my God” as a filler or exclamation can be sinful. For example, if someone said, “Oh my God, it’s so cold out today”.

Try a little experiment. For the next couple of days, listen for the phrase “Oh my God” or the name of “Jesus”. You will be amazed at how often you hear them being used carelessly. Not only in conversations you have with other people, but on television shows and in movies.

There are prayers of reparation for the disrespect given to the Holy Name. Two of them are listed below.

But even if you don’t remember these prayers, each time you hear the Lord’s name used in vain, why not say (out loud or to yourself) the name of Jesus in a loving way, to make up for the disrespect so often given the Holy Name.

It is written “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth…” (Phil 2:10)

O Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer, Son of the living God, behold, we kneel before Thee and offer Thee our reparation; we would make amends for all the blasphemies uttered against Thy holy name, for all the injuries done to Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, for all the irreverence shown toward Thine immaculate Virgin Mother, for all the calumnies and slanders spoken against Thy spouse, the holy Catholic and Roman Church. O Jesus, who hast said: “If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you,” we pray and beseech Thee for all our brethren who are in danger of sin; shield them from every temptation to fall away from the true faith; save those who are even now standing on the brink of the abyss; to all of them give light and knowledge of the truth, courage and strength for the conflict with evil, perseverance in faith and active charity! For this do we pray, most merciful Jesus, in Thy name, unto God the Father, with whom Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Ghost world without end. Amen. (from The Prayer Book by Rev. John O’Connell)

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen. (ourcatholicprayers.com)