“By his obedience to Mary and Joseph, as well as by his humble work during the long years in Nazareth, Jesus gives us the example of holiness in the daily life of family and work.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 564
The family is the heart of human society. It is in the home that one first experiences love, charity, the value of work, perseverance, trust, and faith. Parents should be the foremost educators in their children’s lives, teaching by example and guiding with an encouraging hand. The primary duty of every parent is to teach their children good morals, starting them on the path of truth.
Homeschooling is a natural extension of this parental work. Nothing is more beautiful than when a human person embraces the work given to them by God; thus, there is no more perfect form of education than that which occurs within the home. Nothing elucidates the imposing value of homeschooling more than the undulating wave of secularism and modernity during the 21st century.
Secularism and the Home
Secularism, by its very nature, is a denial of God. The “progressive” society that embraces the philosophies of secularism, seeking innovations and advancements, is truly on a path of regression. As society turns away from premodern beliefs—such as a religious understanding of humanity’s purpose—and replaces a focus on the Divine by adopting a human-focused attitude, it ultimately rejects Truth itself.
In a secular epoch, the nurturing hearth of family life should be our oasis from the follies of a misguided world. The family should defend the last flickers of Truth, sustaining this light and bearing it into the darkness wrought by fallen human nature.
Parents must pass on this light of Truth to their children, protecting them from the influences of secularism by educating them in grace and prayer. Homeschooling is a school focused on spiritual and intellectual enrichment outside the realm of secularism. As such, homeschooling is one of man’s last defenses from the storm of secularism.
The Holy Family: Our Most Perfect Model
To quell all doubts about the importance of homeschooling, look no further than the perfect example of family life: the Holy Family. The home life of St. Joseph, Our Lady, and Our Lord is a poignant tableau of a modest life of holiness and virtuous work.
The Gospels do not provide much information on the hidden life of the Holy Family. However, one of the most striking moments from Our Lord’s childhood is His first public teaching, when Our Lady and St. Joseph find Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem among the doctors: “And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking questions. And all that heard him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers” (Luke 2:46-47).
This is a noteworthy image of Our Lord, especially when considered in the context of it being His first public teachings, which He says is being “about my father’s business” (Luke 2:48). Our Lord became man to redeem us and establish His church, teaching us how to follow the truth.
Our Lord is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). It is only by accepting His teachings and imitating His life that mankind will live a good life of purpose. Families must look to the example of the life of the Holy Family. It was in the family life that Our Lord grew in wisdom and grace, obeying His mother and foster-father throughout His childhood, learning virtue and grace at home.
Homeschooling is the best imitation of Our Lord’s childhood. It offers children the ability to learn virtues, morals, grace, and faith through a home-based education, allowing them to grow in wisdom under their parents’ fostering and attentive gaze. Homeschooling families look to the perfect model of education given to us by our most perfect teacher, Christ Himself, to provide the foundations of morality and integrity, helping children to grow in truth.
The Spirit of Truth: A Hope for Education
The secular world is wholly incapable of providing a solid, steadfast education. It has veered too far away from the Spirit of Truth, renouncing God’s teachings for progressive ideals. If a secular society refuses to receive or see the truth, it cannot provide a substantial education for children; rather, it will starve them with worldly ideas that are mere distortions of the truth.
Humans are not created for this material world but for an eternity in Heaven. Yet, the secular world continues to deny this fundamental truth through an unremitting denial of the Spirit of Truth: “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him: but you shall know Him; because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17).
Christ Himself, His followers, and His teachings have all been rejected by secularism and society because the Spirit of Truth abides within all good Catholics who follow Church doctrine and imitate the example of the Holy Family. The Spirit of Truth enlightens those who choose a homeschooling education, as these parents work to fulfill the duty of educating their children in the truth by emulating the perfect example that St. Joseph, Our Lady, and Our Lord provided.
Secularism seeks to vanquish the Spirit of Truth; in this, it relentlessly attacks the institution of homeschooling which embraces truth more than any other form of education. But homeschooling must continue to function as a safe haven, allowing the Spirit of Truth to burn freely within the home and family. Parents must continue to recognize the innate benefit of the practice of homeschooling, an education that instills children with the finest fruits of teaching because it allows them to grow in wisdom, virtue, and grace without falling prey to the temptations of secularism and modernity.
Without family life and the home as a refuge from the onslaught of secularism, even those with goodwill would struggle to know the Spirit of Truth. Homeschooling aids the family in teaching children to seek truth, cultivate virtue, and live in accordance with God’s teachings. The family is man’s last safeguard against the world’s follies, and defending the family is man’s final fight to impede secularism.
Works Cited
Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed., Our Sunday Visitor, 2000.
Holy Bible. Douay Rheims Version, Tan Books and Publishers, INC, 1989.
World of Writing 