Laura Berquist (Courtesy of Mother of Divine Grace on YouTube.)
Laura Berquist (née Steichen), foundress of the Mother of Divine Grace (MODG) homeschool program, prepared for her important calling at faithful Thomas Aquinas College in California.
But in 1969, she didn’t know what was in store for her when she and her parents went to check out the new liberal arts college opening that fall. Her parents had read an article written by conservative author Russell Kirk in the National Review, and they decided to look into it.
“We went to the campus in Malibu Canyon,” Berquist explains, “and met two of the founders: Dr. [George] Neumayr and Dr. [Ronald] MacArthur. We talked about the plans for the college and the difficulties of starting a school from scratch.”
Then Dr. MacArthur started asking his own questions, she recalls.
“He said, ‘Well, Laura, what’s the best part of you?’ ‘Oh, no,’ I thought, ‘it’s a test.’ ‘Um, my mind?’ ‘Good, good,’ he said, and I gave an internal sigh of relief. ‘Passed that one,’ I thought.
“Then another question: ‘And what’s the best thing you can do with your mind?’ ‘Oh, dear,’ I thought, but I said, ‘Think about God?’ ‘Very good,’ he said. And then he gave me a hearty slap on the back. ‘So, are you going to come here and do the best thing you can do with the best part of yourself?’ ‘I guess I am,’ I said.”
Education for humanity
Berquist graduated in 1975 and has only good things to say about Thomas Aquinas College, a Great Books program that is one of the faithful institutions recommended in The Newman Guide for its strong Catholic identity.
“In a liberal education, you acquire the intellectual formation necessary to learn about the highest things,” Berquist says. “Once I got to TAC, I learned the longer version of what liberal education is. I also learned that it is the education that recognizes that man is made in the image and likeness of God, and that that likeness lies in man’s intellect and will.
“Knowledge is a good in itself, because it makes one more perfectly what he is: a creature with the power to know, and more like God, who is the First Truth. That has informed everything I have since done and thought.
“I also learned that there is an order in education that is essential, and that formation and information are not the same thing. They are clearly related, but formation allows one to think rightly about new concepts, while information concerns the content of those new concepts. You need both.
“Since the good is diffusive, once the importance of this kind of education is seen, one wants to share it whenever possible,” Berquist says. “All of that informed the curriculum I worked out for my children, and then eventually wrote for MODG.”
Her perspective includes that of a mother, since all six of her children have graduated from Thomas Aquinas College.
“People are often worried about whether a liberal arts education is pertinent for teaching vocational skills,” Berquist notes. “This is what I say, because this is the formation I received: the education at TAC is the education for man as man. It fits his nature. It makes him more perfectly what God intends him to be. It forms his mind and heart so that he is able to know and love the highest things in the way that is possible in this life.
“Since it does that, it prepares him not just for a job, though I think it does that, but it prepares him to live his life here in such a way that he is ready for his ultimate goal: life with God. As a parent, I want my children to be happy in this life and, especially, in the life to come. I want an education that is ordered to both of those goals. If one is prepared for this life, but not the life to come, then he is missing what is most important.
“Saint Cardinal Newman said, ‘If our hearts are by nature set on the world for its own sake, and the world is one day to pass away, what are they to be set on, what to delight in, then?’ I want my children to order their lives to Eternal Life, and I think Catholic liberal education as found at Thomas Aquinas College offers the formation that makes that possible. I have tried to share that vision with all the families in MODG.”
Education to know God
Berquist’s vision for Catholic education has been formed and shaped by her time at TAC, which is ultimately what allowed her to form MODG. “Catholic education—whether it’s homeschooling, private, or parochial—is ordered to educating the human as human, and he’s ordered to the truth, and specifically, to the Truth Himself, God.” Such an education must be ordered to forming the whole person, and Berquist finds this especially in classical liberal arts education.
“Classical education is Catholic education, because it’s ordered by its nature to the Supreme Being,” she says. And as St. Thomas Aquinas argues that the supreme goal of all the arts and sciences is the study of theology, “We must put children’s minds on sacred theology, so that they use them to know the best and noblest Being.”
“Reality is knowing God. God is the first cause, and everything comes from Him and goes back to Him. If you don’t have that context, you’re not seeing things in the right way.”
She continues: “Many see liberal education as a waste of time, because you spend four years without training for a job.” The reality, however, is that “we’re not going to be a worker forever; we’re going to be human persons forever.” Catholic education should truly take these things into consideration, because of all education systems, it is the one that truthfully focuses on God.
Berquist experienced this beautiful education at Thomas Aquinas College, and it influenced her method in creating MODG. MODG, now in its 25th year, serves 6400 students, and the curriculum Berquist wrote is used by many more. There is no measuring the impact and value of a faithful Catholic education, which is meant to be shared, as Berquist has done for so many families around the world. From these seeds, comes the renewal of Catholic education and the Church in America.
Catholic Education Scandal on April Fool’s Day
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffImagine the irony: Today, April Fool’s Day, a Boston high school named Catholic Memorial will bestow an award on a pro-abortion politician. You might think this is just part of the day’s hijinks, a calculated prank, but sadly, this scandal is all too familiar and real.
Patrick Reilly, founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, appeared as a guest on The Catholic Current with host Fr. McTeigue, S.J., to discuss the scandal of honoring people who publicly oppose the very teaching that lies at the heart of true Catholic education, and what can be done to courageously renew our Catholic schools.
If a Catholic school is going to give an openly pro-abortion politician an award, what does “Catholic school” even mean at that point? As Fr. McTeigue ponders, “One has to wonder what people think they are paying for with Catholic education.”
As Reilly explained, we’ve lost a sense of who is responsible for the education of children, and ultimately, it’s the parents. “Education is fundamentally a lay function. The Church is supposed to be upholding, teaching, and preserving the faith, and therefore, education has to be done in full partnership with the Church to be fully Catholic.”
“Unfortunately, another trap we’ve fallen into is the idea that “Catholic” is just a label that is given, and an institution can do whatever it pleases, even if those actions contradict Church teaching. Catholic Memorial is an example of such an institution, controlled by the Christian Brothers, but sending a clear message of encouragement for pro-abortion activism.” Reilly added.
Reilly goes on to demonstrate that such an action presents a scandalous image of the school. “You are making a decision to choose one person out of the millions of people in the world, out of the good Catholics whom you could choose. When you choose someone who is deliberately working for the death and slaughter of millions of babies, working for the destruction of marriage and the complete misunderstanding of gender, what are you doing? There is a deliberate aspect to that decision, and that’s what really needs to be condemned.”
When Catholic schools are making such decisions as these, parents have the obligation to look elsewhere. And while they don’t always get the support they deserve, Reilly points to many examples that are upholding the Catholic faith, including renewed parochial schools, homeschooling, independent schools, and even new hybrid model programs.
“As Catholics, we keep putting things back on the bishops. But as lay Catholic people, we need to be holding schools to account. We should be confident in that authority. Stop putting our kids in places like Catholic Memorial. It’s very deliberately and very publicly signaling to the world where it’s at. Why would we put our kids in a place like that?”
As a positive conclusion, Reilly explained, “Today, Catholic schools have a great opportunity. Americans are fed up with how far the Left has taken the culture, and a school that strongly asserts its Catholic identity does very well. It’s a sign of opposition to the craziness of the culture.”
Listen to the whole episode here!
10 Ways to Strengthen Athletics in Catholic Education (Bonus: Anticipated Questions One Might Encounter)
/in Student Formation Athletics, Commentary/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffThis list is drawn from The Cardinal Newman Society’s new “Policy Standards on Formation of the Human Person in Catholic School and College Sports”.
Possible Questions
Question: Could we just let sport be sport, run a competitive program like our peers, and leave the rest to theology class or Sunday school?
Response: Catholic schools and colleges are educational evangelical communities of faith. Sports in our communities are a part of something much bigger than simply competition and athletic glory. Because Catholic education is different, with a more comprehensive integrated approach to student formation, our sports programs are different. They are orientated to integral formation of mind, body and spirit within a Catholic understanding of the human person.
Question: Isn’t it a violation of good taste and religious freedom to offer a specifically Christian or Catholic prayer before a game? Is that proselytizing? Shouldn’t we choose the most generic and universal sentiments to avoid offending others?
Response: In athletic events, the home team is responsible for the pre-game program. When we invite guests into our “home,” it is a Catholic home. We have a chance to show our guests who we are: a community of faith and part of the Catholic Church, and in this instance the Church at play and prayer. While we respect our guests and should never choose a Catholic prayer that might lead to confusion, we also respect them enough to assume they are capable of the virtue of tolerance and respect incumbent upon guests in another person’s home or Church. We should never shy away from the name of Jesus in any prayer or circumstance out of a false sense of inclusivity or a fear of appearing pious. See John 14:13-14: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in my name, I will do it.” Also see Matthew 10:33: “But he that shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”
Question: Don’t laws and athletic associations require a school or college to provide students access to the team of their choice according to their declared sexual identity?
Response: Local, state and federal laws in the United States and athletic association policies are changing rapidly on this subject, and there is no national consensus. A Catholic school or college must carefully review applicable laws and affiliations. Regardless, there is no option for a faithfully Catholic institution to deny or cast doubt upon the God-given biological sex of any person, including students and employees. This would violate the mission of Catholic education to teach and witness to truth. Faced with a legal challenge, a Catholic institution’s best defense may be to assert religious freedom by claiming exemption from the law, seeking relief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or appealing to the First Amendment or provisions in a state constitution. A school or college has the strongest claim to religious freedom protections if its policies and actions are directly explained by Catholic teachings, consistently faithful and consistently applied over time and across situations.
Sport Is More Than a Game for Catholic Schools
/in Student Formation Athletics, Commentary/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffIn Catholic education, athletes like to win competitions as much as anyone else—but sport has an even higher purpose that should take priority for students and coaches.
Sport done rightly aids the development of character and virtue. Catholic sport allows for the integral formation of body and soul, to work toward the fulfillment of athletic and intellectual prowess and excellence. Sport builds school community, reinforcing bonds among students and between students, faculty and staff. Sport forges bonds among parents and the larger community.
Sport in Catholic education is not only for the physically talented. Because it has so much to offer the human person, all capable students should have the benefit of participating in athletics and sporting competitions. What student hasn’t missed catching or hitting a ball? It’s not only about learning handeye coordination, but also about how to emotionally respond and behave in a way that leads to virtue formation.
As stated in The Cardinal Newman Society’s new standards on sports in Catholic education, a Catholic institution should be concerned not only with “physical skills and strength” but also developing social skills and “Christian character and virtue.” The standards discuss the outlook of Pope St. John Paul II, who spoke of the importance of sport in the development of the human person as well as the danger if sport is simply “reduced to mere effort and to a questionable, soulless demonstration of physical strength.”
Sport can help students recognize their physical and mental capacities and limitations. For some, it’s the acceptance of their skill; for others, it’s the determination to improve, which motivates them to understand who they are or who they are called to be.
Some believe gender is a social construct, and that athletic policies should invite students who express a gender different from their biological sex (“transgendered athletes”) to compete alongside or against athletes of a different biological sex. But science tells us there are chromosomes within each human person that exist at conception defining one’s sex as either male or female. The Church teaches that the human person grows as a unified body and soul, not as “two natures united, but a single nature” as male or female. As our standards explain, “Through integral and holistic Catholic education, student-athletes will Sport Is More than a Game for Catholic Students NEWMAN SOCIETY EDITORIAL come to understand who they are as unified persons of body and soul [and] as sons and daughters of God.” Sport can be important to upholding the perennial teachings of the Church and the mission of the Catholic school or college.
Catholic institutions of integrity will recognize natural law and Catholic teaching, refusing to capitulate to contemporary ideologies that negate the basic binary principle of human sexuality. Faithful Catholic institutions will participate in like-minded athletic associations or sports leagues that do not usurp the rights of students to compete with students of the same biological sex. This is a matter of justice. Our standards state, “By nature, men are typically bigger, faster and stronger than women and so should not play against them in competitive interschool athletics.” Any athletic competition should protect the safety and dignity of all participants.
It is important that educators ensure that students are not degraded by unsportsmanlike behavior, such as name-calling or hazing, and “coaching that is physically, emotionally or spiritually abusive, harmful or degrading.”
Sport in a Catholic school is the extension of the school’s academic and religious mission—to transform students into persons who will live their earthly and eternal lives as humble servants of God. It should be seen as an evangelical and formative program.
Catholic Educators Rise to Defend Women’s Sports
/in Student Formation Athletics, Commentary/by Patrick ReillyIn December 2021, the witness of faithful Catholic educators helped persuade the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to include broad protection for the mission of religious colleges in the Association’s new constitution.
Although the NCAA also took new steps to embrace gender ideology, the accommodation to religious colleges was a surprising concession showing the great importance of Catholics standing firm against gender ideology and in defense of women’s sports.
Awareness is growing in American society about the errors of gender ideology, originally embraced out of compassion for a very few people who are born with ambiguous sexuality. Now the false ideology threatens to erase gains made in recent decades for women’s athletics and protection from sexual assault. Men declaring themselves female and choosing to compete in women’s sports or use women’s private facilities is corrupting sports at all academic and professional levels, from high school swimming to Olympic events
Faithful Catholic education respects not only the biological sex of students but also Catholic teaching which affirms God’s creation of humans as male and female. Catholic schools and colleges, then, must firmly resist demands that they admit biological men to women’s sports and should set an important example as faithful witnesses to the truth.
Catholics challenge the NCAA
In December, I went public at the National Catholic Register with concerns raised by leaders of several faithful Catholic colleges that we recommend in our Newman Guide, and which participate in Division II or III of the NCAA. The presidents of Belmont Abbey College, Catholic University of America, University of Dallas, University of Mary, University of St. Thomas (Tex.) and Walsh University had been fighting proposed changes to the NCAA constitution that seemed intended to push out religious colleges with traditional views of sexuality and gender.
By adding deliberately pointed language to its constitution—that colleges must “comply with federal and state laws and local ordinances, including respect to gender equity, diversity and inclusion”— the NCAA appeared to be stacking the deck against religious colleges. The language seemed designed to ban Catholic colleges from membership in the NCAA, if at any point they go to court to assert exemption from state and federal laws and to defend their mission.
This amendment to the NCAA constitution was the result of lobbying by activists including the anti-Catholic Human Rights Campaign. It would have set up a legal showdown between the NCAA and faithful Catholic colleges that refuse to accept biological males on women’s teams.
“The Catholic attempt to use sport toward the integral formation of the human person and to give praise and honor to the Creator is subverted by competing ideologies in the common culture, especially gender ideology,” warns The Cardinal Newman Society in our new standards for sports at Catholic schools and colleges. “The issue is bigger than just sexual politics; Catholic educators must resist gender theories that aim to annihilate the concept of nature and our understanding of who we are and how we exist in the world.”
GENDER IDEOLOGY THREATENS TO ERASE GAINS MADE FOR WOMEN’S ATHLETICS AND PROTECTION FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT.
Thankfully, the faithful Newman Guide colleges joined many other religious colleges in urging the NCAA to add another provision to its constitution, ensuring their rights to uphold their religious missions. The Cardinal Newman Society made the issue public and endorsed the new language, “Consistent with the principle of institutional control, no provision in this Constitution should be construed to restrict or limit colleges and universities, public or private, from adopting or maintaining missions and policies consistent with their legal rights or obligations as institutions of high learning.”
My column in the National Catholic Register was widely distributed on social media, and it was cited by Catholic and other Christian media. A few days later, the NCAA added new language to its constitution recognizing the mission priorities of religious colleges. Apparently, the NCAA governors decided losing Catholic and Christian colleges as members would harm the association and would be patently unfair to student-athletes.
Faithful Catholic education is worth fighting for, and it was the smaller but most faithful colleges that helped achieve this valuable protection, even while large institutions like Georgetown University instead advocated the “woke” agenda of gender ideology.
Tough road ahead
The added language to the NCAA constitution does not mean religious colleges will not face difficulties in the future. The association has signaled acceptance of gender ideology, allowing each sport’s national governing body to determine its own approach to competition by students who claim an opposite gender, subject to review by an NCAA committee. It remains to be seen whether the NCAA will honor its statement of respect for religious education.
In college sports generally, the challenge of gender ideology faces women in multiple sports. University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who is undergoing hormone therapy, has made headlines by setting pool records in the Ivy league swimming championship.
The problems are also reaching into high school athletics. The fastest female runner in Connecticut high schools was forced to file a lawsuit in 2020, together with other student-athletes, because of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s decision to allow biological males to race against girls. The lawsuit was deemed moot by a federal court last year, since the girls had graduated, and it was dismissed—but the girls have appealed the ruling.
Often Catholic schools and colleges belong to such athletic associations, and these are likely to continue presenting challenges for Catholic educators. Whether on gender identity, prayer before games or other concerns of Catholic institutions, secular society is increasingly unwilling to respect the needs of Catholic education. But compromising on fundamental truths of human nature and a school or college’s mission is not an option.
On the other hand, witnessing to the truth is itself a valuable education for students—not only when we win, but also when we lose. Ultimately, we can trust in the Holy Spirit to protect the Church and open new doors to Catholic formation if we only stay faithful.
Catholic School Sports Should Encourage Prayer
/in Blog Athletics, Commentary Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyImagine losing your job, simply because you prayed after a sporting event.
That’s exactly what happened to Joseph Kennedy in Washington State—and it’s yet another example of hostility to Christianity in public schools.
Back in 2015, Kennedy lost his head football coaching job at Bremerton High School, because he refused to stop praying at the 50-yard line after games. Kennedy began the practice by offering a brief prayer of thanksgiving, and he was later voluntarily joined by players from both teams.
To defend his right “to act in accordance with his sincerely held religious beliefs,” Coach Kennedy has had to take his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which will hear his arguments in April. He has the support of the U.S. Catholic bishops, because his plight resembles the growing threats to the religious freedom of all Catholics and other religious believers who run afoul of secularism.
But while Kennedy is surely right to defend his job, there is a larger issue here: the inadequacy and growing danger of secular public education for Catholic families. With regard to school sports in particular, Catholic kids need and deserve the kind of athletic formation that upholds the dignity of the human person and gives glory to God. Public schools are by definition secular, therefore lacking complete understanding of education—and today, they are increasingly hostile to prayer and the truths of our Catholic faith.
Catholic schools and colleges should “ensure that public prayer is a part of each home pre-game program and encourage post-game team prayers as well,” explains The Cardinal Newman Society’s recently published “Policy Standards on Formation of the Human Person in Catholic School and College Sports.” By doing this, Catholic education not only differentiates itself from the myriad young people fleeing the praying field but also upholds its mission of seeking and teaching truth to its students. While academics is the primary means to achieve this, extracurricular programs are critically important for rounding out a students’ formation and instilling a Catholic worldview.
The standards anticipate objections and questions about the practices of Catholic school teams, quite similar to the concerns raised against Coach Kennedy. “Isn’t it a violation of good taste and religious freedom to offer a specifically Catholic prayer before a game? Shouldn’t we choose the most generic and universal sentiments to avoid offending others?”
Not at all! That’s what faithful Catholic educators should say. The home team plans its pre-game and post-game events, inviting others into its “home.” At a Catholic school or college, that’s a “Catholic home.” “We have a chance to show our guests who we are: a community of faith and part of the Catholic Church, and in this instance the Church at play and prayer,” explain The Cardinal Newman Society standards.
Moreover, “We should never shy away from the name of Jesus in any prayer or circumstance out of a false sense of inclusivity or a fear of appearing pious.”
Coach Kennedy, not a Catholic but a lover of Christ, gives us a model of fortitude in an age of weakness. His strength is no less important to sports than physical strength. He was not afraid of offering a public prayer of thanksgiving following a football game, even though it ultimately cost him his job.
Likewise, coaches at Catholic schools and colleges should not hesitate to offer prayers before or after sporting events. Neither should students. They should never shy away from showing their firm belief in Jesus Christ, knowing that their example on and off the field is welcomed and celebrated—part of Catholic education’s key role in the Church’s mission of evangelization.
This article first appeared at the National Catholic Register.
‘Seriously Consider a Faithful Catholic College,’ Reilly Urges on Kolbe Academy Podcast
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffDuring Catholic Schools Week, Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly was a guest on Kolbecast, the official podcast of Kolbe Academy, a classical Catholic homeschool program for K-12 students. He talked about what led to the creation of The Newman Guide, the reasons why Catholic families should consider a faithful Catholic college and what Catholic education is all about.
Most Catholic colleges and all public colleges have secularized in academics and nearly every aspect of campus life, and they often actively promote a worldview that is antithetical to the faith, explained Reilly. On the other hand, the faithful Catholic colleges recommended in The Newman Guide take a different approach. These places are serious about Catholic identity in all aspects of campus: campus life, hiring, academics, athletics—just to name a few areas.
The Newman Guide colleges are also very serious about educating and forming the whole person, and the graduates tend to be more aware of who they are and what God wants them to be, Reilly said.
Asked what makes a college a “Newman Guide college,” Reilly said, “There is one key standard: a Catholic family can send a child and be reasonably confident that they are going to be receiving a strong foundation intellectually, spiritually, etc.”
“People think we are too stringent” in choosing colleges for the Newman Guide, especially with regard to dorm policies that protect chastity and other student life concerns, Reilly acknowledged. “But campus life is extremely important for students. So many things go on at typical college campuses, which causes a lot of excess worry for the students and affects their performance in school. You need institutions that care about their formation.”
Reilly also addressed the cost of Newman Guide colleges, explaining that the “net price”—after financial aid and scholarships—is often not much different than state institutions. Moreover, the colleges are often very willing to help Catholic families.
Reilly urged families to think about the big picture in the college search: “What is our fundamental purpose in life and education? What would be our view of success, when we look at our child, and we’re looking back and seeing the result of the formation that we gave them? I want them to be good people, generous, Christian, and love God. As a parent, I want to know that I did everything I could to provide them with the best education I could, so they can really be the best person that they can be.”
He added: “I don’t see how you do that in an environment that’s completely secular, that doesn’t pay attention to the core issues.”
There is a lot of hope for Catholic education in the next decade, as more and more people see how faithful Catholic education is effective in forming good students and fostering their growth in the Catholic faith. There’s also great hope at the K-12 level, with programs like Kolbe Academy and schools and dioceses turning to the Newman Society for help in strengthening Catholic identity.
“The next decade is going to be a great golden age in Catholic education,” Reilly predicted. “The greater the pressure that society is putting on us, the greater the need is for Catholic education.”
The co-hosts of this Kolbecast episode included Bonnie Griffin, a mother of four Kolbe Academy students; Steven Hayden, senior development director for Kolbe Academy; and Jordan Almanzar, the Academy’s director of alumni and public relations.
Homeschool Leader Formed at Faithful Catholic College
/in Blog Commentary, Independent, Home, Hybrid School Latest, Newman Guide Articles, Profiles in FCE/by Veronica NygaardLaura Berquist (Courtesy of Mother of Divine Grace on YouTube.)
Laura Berquist (née Steichen), foundress of the Mother of Divine Grace (MODG) homeschool program, prepared for her important calling at faithful Thomas Aquinas College in California.
But in 1969, she didn’t know what was in store for her when she and her parents went to check out the new liberal arts college opening that fall. Her parents had read an article written by conservative author Russell Kirk in the National Review, and they decided to look into it.
“We went to the campus in Malibu Canyon,” Berquist explains, “and met two of the founders: Dr. [George] Neumayr and Dr. [Ronald] MacArthur. We talked about the plans for the college and the difficulties of starting a school from scratch.”
Then Dr. MacArthur started asking his own questions, she recalls.
“He said, ‘Well, Laura, what’s the best part of you?’ ‘Oh, no,’ I thought, ‘it’s a test.’ ‘Um, my mind?’ ‘Good, good,’ he said, and I gave an internal sigh of relief. ‘Passed that one,’ I thought.
“Then another question: ‘And what’s the best thing you can do with your mind?’ ‘Oh, dear,’ I thought, but I said, ‘Think about God?’ ‘Very good,’ he said. And then he gave me a hearty slap on the back. ‘So, are you going to come here and do the best thing you can do with the best part of yourself?’ ‘I guess I am,’ I said.”
Education for humanity
Berquist graduated in 1975 and has only good things to say about Thomas Aquinas College, a Great Books program that is one of the faithful institutions recommended in The Newman Guide for its strong Catholic identity.
“In a liberal education, you acquire the intellectual formation necessary to learn about the highest things,” Berquist says. “Once I got to TAC, I learned the longer version of what liberal education is. I also learned that it is the education that recognizes that man is made in the image and likeness of God, and that that likeness lies in man’s intellect and will.
“Knowledge is a good in itself, because it makes one more perfectly what he is: a creature with the power to know, and more like God, who is the First Truth. That has informed everything I have since done and thought.
“I also learned that there is an order in education that is essential, and that formation and information are not the same thing. They are clearly related, but formation allows one to think rightly about new concepts, while information concerns the content of those new concepts. You need both.
“Since the good is diffusive, once the importance of this kind of education is seen, one wants to share it whenever possible,” Berquist says. “All of that informed the curriculum I worked out for my children, and then eventually wrote for MODG.”
Her perspective includes that of a mother, since all six of her children have graduated from Thomas Aquinas College.
“People are often worried about whether a liberal arts education is pertinent for teaching vocational skills,” Berquist notes. “This is what I say, because this is the formation I received: the education at TAC is the education for man as man. It fits his nature. It makes him more perfectly what God intends him to be. It forms his mind and heart so that he is able to know and love the highest things in the way that is possible in this life.
“Since it does that, it prepares him not just for a job, though I think it does that, but it prepares him to live his life here in such a way that he is ready for his ultimate goal: life with God. As a parent, I want my children to be happy in this life and, especially, in the life to come. I want an education that is ordered to both of those goals. If one is prepared for this life, but not the life to come, then he is missing what is most important.
“Saint Cardinal Newman said, ‘If our hearts are by nature set on the world for its own sake, and the world is one day to pass away, what are they to be set on, what to delight in, then?’ I want my children to order their lives to Eternal Life, and I think Catholic liberal education as found at Thomas Aquinas College offers the formation that makes that possible. I have tried to share that vision with all the families in MODG.”
Education to know God
Berquist’s vision for Catholic education has been formed and shaped by her time at TAC, which is ultimately what allowed her to form MODG. “Catholic education—whether it’s homeschooling, private, or parochial—is ordered to educating the human as human, and he’s ordered to the truth, and specifically, to the Truth Himself, God.” Such an education must be ordered to forming the whole person, and Berquist finds this especially in classical liberal arts education.
“Classical education is Catholic education, because it’s ordered by its nature to the Supreme Being,” she says. And as St. Thomas Aquinas argues that the supreme goal of all the arts and sciences is the study of theology, “We must put children’s minds on sacred theology, so that they use them to know the best and noblest Being.”
“Reality is knowing God. God is the first cause, and everything comes from Him and goes back to Him. If you don’t have that context, you’re not seeing things in the right way.”
She continues: “Many see liberal education as a waste of time, because you spend four years without training for a job.” The reality, however, is that “we’re not going to be a worker forever; we’re going to be human persons forever.” Catholic education should truly take these things into consideration, because of all education systems, it is the one that truthfully focuses on God.
Berquist experienced this beautiful education at Thomas Aquinas College, and it influenced her method in creating MODG. MODG, now in its 25th year, serves 6400 students, and the curriculum Berquist wrote is used by many more. There is no measuring the impact and value of a faithful Catholic education, which is meant to be shared, as Berquist has done for so many families around the world. From these seeds, comes the renewal of Catholic education and the Church in America.
WATCH: Patrick Reilly on EWTN News Nightly
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffEWTN News Nightly
It’s Catholic Schools Week. While most Catholic media celebrated as if everything is “blue skies” for America’s parochial schools, Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly delivered a more sober message this week on EWTN News Nightly.
Over the last 50 years, parochial school enrollment has declined by more than two-thirds, and Catholic identity declined in many schools, Reilly told host Tracy Sabol. High costs have also prevented many Catholic families from attending parochial schools.
On the other hand, there are exciting efforts to renew Catholic identity in many dioceses and parochial schools, and there is also a growing variety of faithful alternatives for Catholic families. Reilly celebrated “great signs of hope with the burgeoning homeschool movement, …independent Catholic schools, lay-run institutions that are starting up, and the renewal of many parochial schools. There’s a very good story right now in Catholic education, but it is coming out of a fifty-year malaise.”
“Schools need to look at doing absolutely everything that they do—whether it’s athletics, admissions, academics—using clear Catholic standards top to bottom,” Reilly urged.
“Unfortunately, most secular institutions are leading young people astray, and so we desperately need this renewal of faithful Catholic education.”
Whether in parochial schools or other means of faithful Catholic education, Catholic families increasingly are finding a renewal of truth and fidelity and a recognition that the formation of young people must be one of the Church’s highest priorities. And that’s something to celebrate!
“Catholic education is the Church’s primary means of evangelization,” Reilly said. “It’s the most important thing that we do in terms of bringing the faith to young people and forming them in the faith and in an understanding of the world from a Catholic point of view.”
Watch the full interview here.
Catholic School Rescued at Historic Pennsylvania Parish
/in Blog Latest/by Veronica NygaardThe oldest baptismal record in America, dated 1741, is at St. John the Baptist Church in rural Ottsville, Pennsylvania, part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. But not so long ago, the Catholic school at one of the nation’s longest-surviving Catholic parishes was on the brink of closure.
Brian Middleton saw rapid decline when his youngest daughter, Maria, was a student. When she was in first grade, in 2008, Brian sat in the balcony of the old parish church for the opening Mass because so many students filled the pews.
The next year, he found a seat in the back row. The following year, he was halfway up the church.
And it was then that he realized his daughter’s parochial school was failing, and he needed to do something.
“Without a Catholic education, when these children become adults and get lost along the way, they wouldn’t have a place to come home to,” the father worried. It was the deep formation of his own Catholic education that ultimately saved him from losing his faith in early adulthood.
So, Middleton went to the pastor to discuss the situation. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, a good man did something—and with the help of many others, this little Catholic school has since triumphed against the tide of secularism and a 50-year trend of declining parochial education across the United States.
Continue reading at Crisis Magazine…
Some Colleges Are Pro-Life Year-Round
/in Blog Commentary, Pro-Life Witness Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyLast week, hundreds of students from faithful Catholic colleges traveled to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, which went full-steam ahead after canceling last year and in spite of citywide COVID restrictions. Many colleges sent delegations, some of them quite large, but there is something especially heartening about the delegations from those colleges that remain thoroughly pro-life and faithfully Catholic year-round, in and out of season.
Attending the March for Life isn’t just a “once a year” activity — it’s not something done just for the fun of it or for a travel experience. Rather, colleges featured in The Newman Guide and the Register’s Catholic college guide strive to be pro-life all year long: being pro-life is part of the very fabric and identity of the colleges. Let’s take a look at some of the activities that these colleges do throughout the year.
Benedictine College
In addition to sending about 15-20 percent of its student population to the March for Life — which is an extensive journey — the Ravens Respect Life group does much to support the local pro-life cause. Not only do they pray at local abortion clinics, but they also sponsor training for and engage in sidewalk counseling. They assist local families in need by volunteering at the local crisis pregnancy center. Their support for pro-life issues extends from conception to natural death: they also visit the elderly in nursing homes.
Moreover, as Steve Johnson explained, “The college Alumni Relations Office encourages Benedictine families and alumni to participate in their area pro-life rallies and marches throughout the year with our Ravens for Life program. We send them signage to carry at their event to show the affiliation with Benedictine College.” The pro-life cause at Benedictine College continues well beyond graduation.
Ave Maria University
At Ave Maria University, students organize a trip to the March for Life, while also praying for an end to abortion outside the local Planned Parenthood once a week.
The university also sponsors the Jon Scharfenberger scholarship for Catholic pro-life leaders attending the university. The scholarship was created in honor of a 2011 AMU graduate who passed away in a tragic car accident a year following graduation while on his way home from a pro-life event. As reported in the recent edition of the Ave Maria magazine, while attending the university, he volunteered frequently at a local pregnancy center without anyone else knowing — and he didn’t even have a car to get there, which increased the wonder of how he was able to do so. Such a scholarship holds up Jon’s life as a witness to the importance of pro-life work for every student who attends Ave Maria.
Finally, an initiative on campus provides babysitting for fellow students so that they are able to continue attending classes and complete their degrees. They also offer confidential services including pregnancy testing and post-abortion counseling.
University of Mary
Looking to the University of Mary, pro-life is written across their entire identity with their motto, “UMary for Life!” Not only does it hint at the university’s intent to form the whole student in its education, according to Ed Konieczka, assistant director of University Ministry at the University of Mary, it also means that “we stand for life at all stages.”
For example, given the ongoing pandemic last year, “We planned the first annual North Dakota March for Life, gathering entities around the state. Our efforts resulted in a March and Rally at the state capital that was attended by 1500 people, including almost 400 people from the University of Mary. This year, the second annual state March for Life will take place at the exact same time as the national March — we will have students, faculty and staff marching simultaneously at the state capitol and in the nation’s capital.”
But their pro-life activities don’t just end with the March for Life. As Ed added, “Over this past year, our Collegians for Life organization sponsored a coffee house fundraiser to raise funds for prolife causes, brought in a guest speaker from the Students for Life, hosted a natural family planning information night, had a spiritual adoption tabling event, and served tables at the local Women’s Care Center Bingo Fundraising event.”
Finally, the university has pro bono clinics, which are entirely student-run and serve everyone, especially those who are uninsured or underinsured. These clinics ensure a culture of life on campus — serving those who need it most.
Allison Eiynck is a freshman this year at the university: ever since infancy, she has lived with multiple synostosis syndrome, which means that the joints in her elbows, fingers, toes and feet bones are fused, and she has brachydactyly, meaning that she is missing partial digits in her ring and pinkie fingers. She also needs hearing aids to assist with her hearing. As she explained in a press release, “I am not able to bend my arms, so I cannot reach my face, head, or certain areas above my waist.”
When she first arrived at the university, she really struggled to manage with daily tasks, especially because this was the first time that she would be completely independent. Thanks to the Pro Bono Occupational Therapy Clinic on campus, however, she was able to receive the help she needed to thrive and be independent. The second-year OT doctoral students worked creatively to come up with ideas to help her perform daily tasks that so many of us take for granted — using a straightener, putting in a ponytail, putting on a winter hat.
As one example, she explained to the Newman Society, “The stocking cap was very helpful and effective. Think of it as you’re putting a trash bag into the garbage can. The garbage can is small and made of plastic. I would put my hat in, like a trash bag with the edges hanging over. This created an opening for me to simply pick up the trash can, flip it upside down, and slide my head into it to place the hat onto my head. Then I would remove it from the trash can using my arms and adjust as needed.”
The importance of such a small object is monumental for someone like Eiynck. “This assistance that was provided respected my human dignity. I felt the OT students were more than happy to find ways to help me become independent, and they didn’t make me feel like I was different from anyone else.
“As an individual with a disability, it’s not fun,” she continued. “I always feel like eyes are on me when I’m out in public eating or just walking in general. The pro-bono clinic allows people with limitations to be independent and successful daily. It gives individuals more confidence to be on their own and make them feel wanted in this world.”
These are but a few examples of how Newman Guide colleges remain pro-life all year round, not just during the March for Life. Hopefully, these examples can be inspiring to others who are looking for ways to serve the pro-life cause no matter what time of year, from conception to natural death.
This article first appeared at the National Catholic Register.