Today thousands around our nation will receive the sign of the cross traced in ashes on their foreheads and hear some equivalent to that ancient Ash Wednesday admonition: “Remember, man, that thou are dust and unto dust thou shalt return”. In our increasingly secularized society, one wonders how these words might be interpreted by non-believers who upon hearing them and – ignorant of the Easter hope they presage – regard them as confirmation of the meaninglessness of existence.
It is often observed that we Americans, and even many of us so-called Christians, have lost our sense of the transcendent. Our spiritual antennae have been dulled. We are less and less capable of experiencing the numinous and are oblivious to beauty in all its manifestations. Surely, a result of this cultural amnesia is our unawareness of – even rejection of – the reality of eternal life. Vaguely mindful of the traditional belief that God created us from molded clay which disintegrates, we forget that he breathed into us his image and likeness – a vivification which immortalizes us. With resigned finality we accept that we are dust and that only to dust we will return. Therefore, our fulfillment in this world – our only world -must be the noise and toys with which we surround ourselves to stave off the meaninglessness of nihilism..
Praise God. Just as Easter inevitably follows Ash Wednesday hope irresistibly follows despair.
One blossoming of this undying hope is the renaissance in Catholic liberal education. It is here, in the bedrock of our western civilization, that the inviolable unity of Truth is championed.
A few years ago a donor advised fund was established here at NCCF to support Martin Saints Classical High School, a fledgling endeavor in East Norriton, Pennsylvania (MartinSaintsClassical.org). The school is now flourishing and exemplifies the benefits of networking with an organization called the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education (ICLE). As Martin Saints’ website states:
Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has called for the renewal of Catholic education at all levels, from grade school through universities. A Catholic education needs to be more than just a secular school with a religion class. The ICLE offers teacher training and professional development to help our faculty realize this vision. The ICLE helps us integrate faith and reason across our curriculum. The ICLE is a community of Catholic educators who create curriculum and build school culture in light of the fullness of Catholic teaching.
Readers unfamiliar with it would be encouraged by ICLE’s website which explains:
The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education was founded in 1999 to help educators renew today’s Catholic schools by drawing on the Church’s tradition, which frees teachers and students for the joyful pursuit of faith, wisdom, and virtue. Our goal is different from that of secular schools, therefore our approach should be different. Through the Institute’s many programs, services, conferences, retreats, and publications, we immerse educators in the philosophy, the content, and even the tools of teaching and learning that lead to a deeper encounter with Truth, who is Jesus Christ.
Imagine Lent empty of Easter. Imagine life full of noise and toys.