“Against the tsunami of our toxic culture”. This quote from a recent article by Fr. Paul Scalia could be an invitation to observe Independence Day from a new perspective. As residents of the freest nation in history perhaps it is fitting for us to ask what effects does the aggressively atheistic secularism which now poisons our culture have on our personal freedom? Here I reference not just those rights enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights – critically important as they are – but more subtly our freedom from the ensnaring moral corruption into which our godless materialism and slippery nihilism so seductively lure us.
We might conclude that our situation is perilous and that we have ourselves to blame. Like residents in a seaside village threatened by a tsunami we are doomed to perdition unless we take appropriate action.
A powerful antidote to the toxicity of our culture is Catholic education. Along with other systems of education that share its values Catholic education is energized by faith and hope. Transmitted by families, parishes, and of course Catholic elementary and high schools, it aspires to a fuller humanity. In doing so it is liberating. It frees us from the downward spiral in which civilization can now so easily descend.
Catholic education cultivates. It forms and guides culture. Since ‘Jerusalem met Athens’ two millennia ago it has been the bedrock of western civilization whose choicest fruit in this world has been the proclamation that each individual is created in the image of God and is destined to pursue the true, the good and the beautiful.
With irony some today will find divinely comedic Catholic education is both radical and progressive. It is radical (radix is Latin for root) because it is root-referential. Though not limited by it, it is grounded in and nourished by tradition. It is progressive because it moves forward (as in the Latin progressus) by constantly elevating the awareness of its students to such edifying values as human dignity, the preference for the poor and vulnerable, stewardship, subsidiarity, solidarity, et cetera.
It is encouraging that initiatives in Catholic education continue to appear. This column has reported on many such “green shoots of civilization” over the past years. Readers will now be inspired by the story of the Divine Mercy Academy (www.divinemercy.md) a K-8th grade school founded in 2019 in Pasadena, Maryland by Mr. Ali Ghaffari who himself has a fascinating story. Anyone looking for brighter inspiration beyond this weekend’s pyrotechnics will be pleased to visit the Academy’s website which resonates with that line from Yeats: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”.
In general education offers us information on content (the ‘what, where and when’ of existence) and on processes (the ‘how’ of existence); Catholic education goes further and provides insights on purpose, (the ‘why’ of existence). Purpose is where dignity is discerned. And, human dignity – once unshackled from the chains of ignorance – is not only luminous, it is indomitable.
As we celebrate Fourth of July let’s reflect on the motto that appears on the Great Seal of the United States: ‘Annuit Coeptis’, and pray that Providence in continuing to bless us will grant us the strength to withstand and, with his grace, even to tame the tsunami.
Another such Catholic educational enterprises in Wyoming Catholic College. I believe it is the only recent Catholic college started (2007) and a glance at its website will show what wonderful leadership program they have, quite unique, and a high grade great books liberal arts program as well.