Homeless And Looking For a Home

I have a meeting tonight with a very holy priest.  The reason for this meeting is our homeschool group needs a home.  We have about 80 families in our group with stories all over the board .  Some kids are home because thier mama could not imagine a moment of thier little lives being shared with other people for the majority of the day (that would be my excuse).  Some families homeschool because they want thier kids to go to mass every day and the Catholic schools don't do that anymore.   Some families had thier kids in Catholic school and could no longer afford the private school tution.  Families also have tried public school and for one reason or another the system did not work for those kids.  Some of the families in our group, and  I assume in groups all over the country, have either had their kids in school, or will one day put thier kids in school.  MOST homeschoolers are not ANTI-SCHOOL!  If a homeschool mom gives off the anti-school vibe it is probably that "SHE" herself if against school for HER child...not yours!

However, this post is not to convince you to homeschool, or even convince you to like that I do.  I am just writing to clarify some points I want to make at my meeting tonight.  You see the Catholic parishes around here do not want to acknowledge homeschoolers.  For whateve reason they feel threatened by our children not going to the parish schools.  Therefore our homeschool group, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is not really grounded by any one church.  We have nowhere to call home.  We have nowhere to run meetings, hold parties, or get spiritial direction from.  Yes, we all attend churches spread put throughout Mobile, but we have no common ground.  When a new Catholic family wants to see what we are about they have to meet us at a playground which can be hard to show genuine hospitality when 150 are swinging off the trees all around you.

We need the Catholic Church to recognize our group and all homeschoolers as an asset to the future of our church.  Most of us are dedicated to bringing up our children to not only be highly educated, but also truly consider a vocation in the church, something our church needs desperately.

So, on this feast day of the Conversion of St. Paul.  A day where the church celebrates one of the pivital points in converting Christians, I am asking a priest to be open to being a "Leader" for the future of Catholic homeschooling in Mobile.  Will this decision be as history changing as that of St. Pauls?

You never know what good God can make when people are truly trying to help His Holy Catholic Church. So around dinner time please pray that Father Kee will be open to allowing OLG to call St. Catherine's our home.