Dear friends of Chesterton,
One study shows that 9 out of 10 adults who say they were raised Catholic also say they no longer attend Mass on Sundays.
If Catholics lose their faith, it means that they have not learned how the faith – how following Christ – answers their real, human questions.
Every person needs to answer the question, “How should I live?” And “What will make me happy?”
These questions get answered in very concrete ways any time we answer questions like these: “Why do I study? What should I study?” “How do I make good friends? How can I be a good friend?” “How should I love? Should I marry? How should I live my marriage?” “What job should I get? Why? How should I approach my work? How should I harmonize my work, my parenthood, my marriage, and my hobbies?” “Why am I suffering? Why are my friends and family suffering? Why are strangers suffering?” “What does this joy point me to?” “Why should I worship? How much? Where? How?”
These questions can, and do, pull us in many different directions. As Christ said to Martha, when her sister Mary was sitting at Christ’s feet, “there is one thing needful.” That one thing, ultimately, is faithful discipleship.
As educators and parents, how do we form life-long disciples? How do we prepare our students, by the time they graduate, for the “one thing needful”?
The classical education movement, including at Chesterton, offers an answer to this question: help students discover that Christ is the answer to their biggest and most practical questions.
How does classical education do this?
First, classical education forms young people in a way of life. While much of modern education multiplies options so students can "maximize" their experiences, classical education says, “These experiences are most important, because they shape who we are.”
Just like it matters for the whole family to sit down for dinner together, at the same time, it matters for the whole school to join in morning prayer, Mass, and evening prayer together, at the same time. Just like it matters that we make our beds in the morning and dress neatly for the day, it matters that we are prepared for class and wear our uniforms neatly. Just like it matters that we greet guests warmly, it matters that Chesterton be a place where each person is celebrated and experiences personal warmth, attention, and welcome.
Second, students learn to study things because those things are good, and not simply useful. Famously, many students ask about math, science, literature, or some other subject, “How will I use this,” or “What does this have to do with me?” The teacher’s task is not to answer this question directly, but to change it by helping students fall in love with the subject. By showing them that math, or science, or literature responds to some need they have in their souls, the teacher will lead them beyond questions about the usefulness of their studies.
Third, students learn need the habit of wonder. Without wonder, we cannot encounter anything good or give ourselves over to it. Classical schools strive to protect students from addictive technologies, social media, and the casual cynicism of so much of our popular culture.
So many of the things classical schools do – from daily routines to virtue formation to worship to Socratic pedagogy – till the soil of wonder, so that students are capable of encountering the world and one another with genuine openness and love.
Fourth, while building a way of life, fostering wonder, and teaching the goodness of what we study all help students fall in love with God's great gifts, the classical curriculum enables students to discover that God is at the center of everything they love. Through the study of the tradition, students come to learn that God really is at the heart of the things they love. This is true whether or not they were thinking about God when they learned to love them.
In this way, classically educated students cannot put God into a Sunday-morning-shaped box, isolated from their other times and activities. They can't leave God behind in the pews. Thanks to their studies, God naturally bursts out into every moment of every day. They come to realize that all along, in seeking happiness, they have been loving Christ, “in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” the deepest answer to the deepest longings in their hearts (Col. 2:3). They will come to understand, slowly, that their excitement about Euclid and Shakespeare is, rightly understood, a beautiful prayer.
If all my loves, wants, and needs, point me to Christ as their deepest answer, what, then, could shake my faith?
There is no shortcut to forming life-long disciples, because there is no shortcut to life. The real questions will come up -- work, marriage, suffering, joy, death -- and we will answer them the best we can. A Chesterton education forms men and women who will always have good reason to believe that Christ is the right answer, in ever-new and surprising ways, and to trust in Him.
In this way, classical schools, and we at Chesterton, hope to give students what they need to make the words of the Psalmist the story of their own lives: “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; / I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. / I will be glad and exult in you; / I will sing praise to your name, O Most High…. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:1-2, 10).
Rise up, Knights!
Gratefully yours in Christ,
Robert Duffy, PhD
Headmaster
