Conference Ponderings

Prior to the Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference, I contemplated the theme of this year's conference, "The Catholic Family: Called to be in the World, not of the World", many times. We have a framed text from Human Life International, "Ancient Advice for Modern Times, How True Christians Relate to the World" by St. Justin the Martyr, in our downstairs' hallway which addresses this very theme. I knew that being in the world, not of the world meant that: we are living counter-cultural lives; we believe in the Blessed Trinity; we believe in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic church and we abide by the teachings of Jesus Christ; we go to Mass each Sunday, on Holy Days of Obligation, and often to daily Mass; we are familiar with the stories in the Bible and so are our children; we spend time in adoration, praying before the Blessed Sacrament; we value family (father, mother, children) life. However, as I listened to the speakers at the homeschool conference, it seemed to me that another theme ran through the talks of most of the speakers. The theme of TRUTH seemed to be an integral part of the speeches. The more I heard the word "truth", the more I realized that to be in the world, not of the world, we need to live the Truth, recognizing that God is TRUTH and all truth comes from Him.