The following is a selection of (edited) e-mails I've received in recent days.
I read your Sept. 22 column and am saddened to say that I'm not surprised. I'm a Catholic father and my wife and I sacrifice to send our children to Catholic schools. We have done our fair share of shopping for the school that is more orthodox.
We are in the Denver Archdiocese and I have been asked, 'Why do you want to cram Jesus down the throats of your kids?' (No kidding.) I have seen schools where open homosexuals teach and work in the administration. I have overheard conversations between nuns and students where the language was as disturbing as the topic. My older brother works in higher education and has been fired from a Catholic college for being 'too Catholic.' A dear friend once told me, 'I will not spend money on or make sacrifices to send my children to a Catholic school just so they can lose their faith.'
My point in all of this is simply, you are not alone in this fight. The Catholic Church is under attack from within. Keep the faith and hold the line, at all costs. Your soul and the souls of your children depend on it. May God be with you. Know that you and all of the faithful Church Militant are in my prayers.
I'm absolutely shocked by the article on Sacred Heart. No innuendo or controversy here. It is blatant and indefensible. We have six children and have homeschooled in the past because of the liberal nature of Catholic schools. I'm a proponent of homeschooling, yet it is not something enjoyable to me. It was very hard to manage this, but we did it anyway because of our lack of options.
I'm sure many of the parents who pulled their kids from Sacred Heart have heavy hearts right now and don't know what to do. If they are unable to homeschool, may I make a suggestion that is by no means perfect but perhaps a reasonable option given the situation? We are conservative Catholics and adhere to the Church's teachings but we found it a better choice to send our older child to a non-denominational Christian school.
Now she did face some challenges because she would have to face ignorant statements about our Church or perhaps occasional bias in statements from one or two teachers. I will tell you, however, that it was a much better choice than the liberal Catholic school. Not only did she learn much more about her Catholic Faith because there were so many moments when we discussed the differences in Protestantism and Catholicism (giving her clearer understanding of the True Faith), but they were on the same page socially and morally as we are.
The teachers were reinforcing that homosexual behavior is a sin despite our current climate. Ideally, I would not send my kids to anything other than a Catholic school, but in this day and age we must start looking at these options and weighing what is a more detrimental environment for the kids. I found the confusing messages - like Sacred Heart gives - to be more destructive to the kids' formation than it was sending them to a non-denominational Christian school or even a more conservative public school.
Navigating your children and the formation of their Faith seems easier when you don't have such obstacles and false teaching authorities within the Church. This is without a doubt more dangerous as it leaves them confused and weaker in the Faith. I do suggest that parents research a non-denominational Christian school, but just make sure it isn't another liberal branch of Christianity.
This kind of thing has been going on for years in so called 'Catholic' schools. It happened with us and our kids in the 1990s here in Austin with regard to sex education. Every diocese in the country has sex education under one form or another. Most schools refuse to let parents opt their kids out and yes, treat them with contempt. So even if it's not blatant, children are being taught these things through 'values clarification.'
We had to move our kids to a Lutheran school because they had far more respect for parents than the Catholic school. Catholic administrators could care less about what the Church teaches and the principle of subsidiarity.
There appears to be a few good bishops throughout the country. But the question you have to ask yourself even of these 'good' bishops is: Why do they have sex education in their schools? Hmmm. It seems to me the complete disregard for the souls of these innocent children has to do with ... money! Yes. I think if one were to follow the money trail, the federal funds that Catholic schools are getting from elementary to college level, there would be some association with this cancerous agenda. Not to mention that there are lots of liberals, and gays who have infiltrated the church at very high levels. But that's another conversation.
Thanks for the very good article. Keep up the good work! I'm convinced that the only way to purge these evil doers is through prayer to the Blessed Mother. She herself has revealed that. It's just sad. But these people need to be continually exposed because of the scandalous activity and confusion they spread.
There was a wonderful nun who touched my soul when I was growing up. Her name was Sister Rosamonde and she was my teacher for several years in Plymouth, Mass., at the Sacred Heart School there. I also attended the same school at a different branch in Orleans on Cape Cod. This was the only time in my life I could not wait to get up and go to school; I was saddened when holidays and weekends came around and it was not a school day. These were the happiest days of my life. We went to First Friday Mass, were taught from the Baltimore Catechism, and our lives were rich with the stories of the saints and true miraculous events known to the sisters. We had dancing classes, music classes and even were taught a foreign language starting in the fourth grade. The nuns would take us to their property in Kingston, where they later relocated the school, for outings to make ice cream and run in the fields and play games.
I wanted the same wonderful experience for my children but that was not to be. My only option was to homeschool in New Jersey so they could learn the Faith. However, at the time, I even urged my husband to find a job near Kingston, Mass., so my girls could have the same education with the same wonderful nuns 40 years after I left.
Then I met a woman who had relocated to our state who told me her son was resentful that his parents removed him from Sacred Heart School in Kingston and moved to New Jersey. So she hosted the Sisters of Divine Providence at her home because she loved these nuns and missed them, too. Her phone call after their visit extinguished my desire to move back there to be near the school. She said they had changed - that some transformation happened over the late 1980s and early 1990s. They had become 'progressives.' I was comforted to hear from her that my own special nun was viewed as the only one who seemed to have escaped the metamorphosis. Now, after reading your column, I realize the Lord spared us from a fruitless move.
In Sacred Scripture, an often unappreciated prophecy is found in the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke when the Blessed Virgin Mary said: '...behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.' It can not be argued: The prophecy was spoken some 2,000 years ago, and it has never been anything less than the truth.
An even lesser known prophecy was made by the Blessed Virgin Mary some 90 years ago to Jacinta Marto who, in 1917, had been one of the three children privileged to have had several apparitions of the Blessed Mother in Portugal (a miracle was promised during one of the apparitions to the three children and, in fact, what would later be known as the Miracle of the Sun did take place and was witnessed by thousands of people on the pre-announced date of October 13th, 1917).
The prophecy spoken directly to Blessed Jacinto Marto occurred shortly before Jacinta's February 20th, 1920 death. The Blessed Virgin Mary said to her: 'Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Lord very much... '
Definitely, the fulfillment of this sad prophecy began long ago. And it has continued to be fulfilled in this present generation. Take, for example, the situation in the United States. Immodesty has infested our society by way of various internet sites, numerous magazines, multiple television programs, etc. The 'live and in person' portion of immodesty is so often seen at many places, including grocery stores, sporting events and churches.
There are definitely some males who wear immodest clothing but, for the most part, this problem mainly concerns females. (For a man or boy, if there is one area of immodesty in his life, it is probably more likely to be shameful language as opposed to shameful clothing.)
For those who would deliver the objection, 'This is the United States and we can do anything we want,' the response is simple: Yes and no. Yes, this is the United States but, no, we can not do whatever we want. Freedom does not mean man has the right to do whatever he desires.
Another objection is, 'You never have to look.' The answer for this one is even simpler: false. Granted, no one should lust, but to never lay eyes on an immodestly dressed person would often mean wearing an eye patch for each eye. In other words, sometimes it cannot be helped.
It is refreshing and encouraging to see some women and girls disregard what is often considered the norm and, instead, dress in a modest fashion. These women and girls help to raise the morality level in our country. Their good example should be followed.