Our primary duty is to assure that our children know Christ’s voice. The full teaching of Jesus in this passage is worth revisiting:
So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
John 10:1-15
I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
TRUTHS THAT THE LORD HAS TAUGHT
Following are some of the Truths that the Lord, and therefore, the Catholic Church has taught for two millennia. They are included because they correspond to the Errors that are being taught in schools and our culture today. This page is a work in progress as we incorporate resources to preach the Truth and correct the Errors. If you have any suggestions for topics or resources, please contact us: parentsoutofexile@gmail.com.
THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
MATTHEW 22:36-40
Imagine the change that could occur if the culture in public schools reflected the Golden Rule of Treat Others as you would have them Treat You, instead of seeing schools through the lens of oppressors and victims.
SATANISM BY ANY OTHER NAME
An insidious worldview has been taught for the past 50 years in schools under various names by well-meaning, but misguided, professionals trying to address the problems in society caused by the fallen nature of mankind. Psychology has attempted to improve human nature from a secular perspective — human nature without God. It has become a religion, but it is an anti-God religion and instead creates what Dr. Paul Vitz (Senior Scholar at Divine Mercy University in Sterling, Virginia and emeritus professor of psychology at New York University) calls “the Cult of Self-Worship”. In his book, Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship, Dr. Vitz gives a thorough history of major Psychology Theorists that contributed to the Self-Theory that we see in schools today. The latest iteration of this psychology is Social/Emotional Learning.
GENDER THEORY
When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God; he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and named them humankind.
Genesis 5:1-2
The heresy of Gender Theory is only a new iteration of old Errors that have plagued the Church for millennia. The Church has responded eloquently to this latest threat:
In 2019, the Congregation for Catholic Education at the Vatican, released “Male and Female He created them” toward a path of dialogue on the question of Gender Theory in Education”.
In 2021, Most Rev. Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Arlington, released “A Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology” The link includes the written Catechesis as well as an audio recitation.
Dysphoria about the Virginia Department of Education Model Policies for Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools By Deacon Gerard-Marie Anthony
GOD’S PLAN FOR EACH OF US IS PERFECT
There are over 100 references in the bible teaching us that God knew us before he “knit us in our mother’s womb”. Each reference refers to the plan he had for each individual — our individual Vocation. God assures each of us that He will give us everything we need to accomplish His plan in our lives. All He needs from us is our cooperation and submission to God’s superior plan through Love. God provided the body, intelligence, temperament, aptitudes, abilities, etc. to fulfill His Plan.
God provided a Guardian Angel “to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice.”
Call of Jeremiah
The word of the LORD came to me: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. The word of the LORD came to me: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “I do not know how to speak. I am too young!”
But the LORD answered me, Do not say, “I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the LORD.
Jeremiah 1:4-8
Christ tells us to have Full Dependence on God
Dependence on God
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wildflowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. ”
PROTECTION OF THE INNOCENCE OF CHILDREN
The protection of the Innocence of Children was so great a theme that Matthew, Mark and Luke all referred to Christ’s teaching:
“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.
Matthew 18:6
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe [in me] to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
Mark 9:42
He said to his disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Luke 17:1-2
Therefore, the Church takes this admonishment seriously. Pontifical Council for the Family issued “The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education within the Family” on November 21, 1995. This document includes a lengthy discussion of the “Age of Innocence” (psycho-social development theory describes this period as the Latency Period) from around age 5-puberty (12-15).
“This period of tranquility and serenity must never be disturbed by unnecessary information about sex. During those years, before any physical sexual development is evident, it is normal for the child’s interests to turn to other aspects of life.”
“The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education within the Family”
The Pontifical Council for the Family makes clear the duties of parents:
83. Nonetheless, in the context of moral and sexual information, various problems can arise in this stage of childhood (Age of Innocence). In some societies today, there are planned and determined attempts to impose premature sex information on children. But, at this stage of development, children are still not capable of fully understanding the value of the affective dimension of sexuality. They cannot understand and control sexual imagery within the proper context of moral principles and, for this reason, they cannot integrate premature sexual information with moral responsibility. Such information tends to shatter their emotional and educational development and to disturb the natural serenity of this period of life. Parents should politely but firmly exclude any attempts to violate children’s innocence because such attempts compromise the spiritual, moral and emotional development of growing persons who have a right to their innocence.
The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education within the Family, Pontifical Council for the Family, November 21, 1995.
VIRTUES
Many of the Errors presented to children in school are distortions of Virtues. What Catholics consider Virtues, the Public Schools teach under a Curriculum “Social/Emotional Learning” (SEL). Public Schools cannot or will not teach morality through the lens of God and therefore teach evasions, half-truths and euphemisms. SEL Curricula do not refer to “virtues”, but instead “competencies”. A careful discussion of each of the Virtues will show the fallacies of the ideas presented in SEL Curricula and the limitations of teaching “skills” or “competencies” over God-centered character formation and relationship building. (This discussion of Virtues is a work in progress on this website.)
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