Image:(Snails have families too!)
Matthew and John were most upset at school yesterday. They had prayed an " Eternal rest" for a squashed bug in the playground and all their "classmates" had laughed at them.
"Then it began to wiggle and come alive again" said John.
"... So they all ran away and screamed but we didn't because Jesus can do that can't he mum? - give things life again?"
(They both put on a brave face, but later, in my arms they sobbed their little hearts out.)
My five year old boys attend a Catholic school...but not one as I used to know it!
Last year it introduced a council initiative into the curriculum. Entitled " Sex and relationships" a module for nine to 10 year olds.
Slipped into one of the boy's early reading book-bags; was a booklet produced by the local Council explaining the long-term benefits of this course, headed under the wholesome title
"Safe Parenting - a guide for parents and carers of 11-18 year olds."
Sounds good - Well, all parents want their children to be "Safe" don't they?
"Safe" in my day used to mean "Safe from bodily or moral danger" not "Safe from practicing moral values."
Page 33 of the booklet introduces the topic of "Sexual health" and makes the bold introductory statement:
"Children and young people want their parents to talk to them about sex..."
Really...?
Wasn't something I would have actually wanted to hear my parents talk about - as a child the word " sex" wasn't in my vocabulary. "Rounders, painting parties, hide and seek, games and pets were all there - but not "sex".
Ok, times have changed, but Catholic schools used to let children be children. Society might change, but gospel values do not. Jesus was the Divine Innoence and still is.
Even Parents used to let children be children, and take upon themselves the burden of disciplining them or the pain of having to say NO! even when they looked cute doing what they shouldn't!
- but now they are treated like minuscule adults. Parents are opting out on parental responsibilities big time, on the premise of giving them "self- confidence" they allow them to make too many choices for themselves.
Confidence is built in children when they feel secure in knowing who are the adults in the family, and who is the child. They need to be given limits and boundaries or they begin to feel uncared for.
And so, Children are being abandoned to their own devices, having no resources or expertise of their own to rely upon, they will find their information on morality and how to be adult from Government booklets like the one in John's bag.
Because of complacent parenting, the original Big Brother is having its way by means of stealth.
(Image: A Government official looks for the "sensible" parts of a teenagers brain using the new "Glockenspiel" method."
The booklet brings its mission message home like this:
"The law allows 16 year olds complete sexual freedom, and the right to contraception and abortion without telling their parents...as long as their doctor thinks they are sensible enough."
Their doctor...? How would they know what is best for our children better than we do?
Sensible at 16?...(I am yet to meet one of those) O.k. apologies to sixteen year olds - one can be sensible about lots of everyday stuff like getting your homework in on time - but sex is a very different matter.
The argument for giving this information to 16 year olds (and children as young as 11) is that a third of all under 16's are already active.
True as that may be, it also means that two - thirds are not.
It seems the world wants to lower moral standards of the majority to please the minority. Surely it should be the other way around if only by mere weight of numbers?
(Image: An inflatable church made in England. In their wisdom perhaps the council thought Church should be more fun?) Poor England - pray for us won't you?
Being bullied for my faith was never a problem when I was at school. Everyone knew how to pray. Even for deceased relatives. Catholic schools in England are becoming Catholic only in name. The meaning is lost like that of a road I know named "Lusitania" - a ship long forgotten.
If I could find a school which was run by a religious sister or brother I would swap poste - haste. But where have all the religious teaching orders disappeared to?
At least I could be sure that the children would be fed a diet of morning and lunch-time prayer, and programmes like the afore mentioned would not get a look -in.
Prayer is the fundamental building block of a relationship with the Divine. Parents will teach their kids how to get connected on the mobile phone network or internet, but they fail to teach their children how to pray,and so make a connection with the Divine.
How many of us separate our church life from our family life? We should aim for the two to be one.
There is a well-known account of Padre Pio chasing a woman out of the confessional shouting "Traitor!"
When she gathered the courage to return and ask him why he had done that - he replied that he had had a vision of her three children in hell.
She had not given them spiritual guidance, but left them to their own devices.
All authority is given by God, and both parents and heads of Catholic schools have a responsibility to those under their charge.
Has this demise happenned because compromise with the state is the only way they can survive?
Catholic schools need prayer to bring them back to life again, and Jesus can do it if we ask. He did it with the bug, remember?
