Fr. Frederick Edlefsen

“[The] fundamental elements of knowledge spring from the wonder awakened in [humans] by the contemplation of creation: human beings are astonished to discover themselves as part of the world, in a relationship with others like them, all sharing a common destiny. Here begins, then, the journey which will lead them to discover ever new frontiers of knowledge. Without wonder, men and women would lapse into deadening routine and little by little would become incapable of a life which is genuinely personal.” (Pope John Paul II, Faith and Reason, 4).

The Canadian Tourism Commission once featured an ad showing a father and son on a rock overlooking Lake Huron. The father’s finger pointed outward, guiding the boy’s attention to the lake’s azure horizon. That’s a good image of education. Learning begins with wonder and a trustworthy guide. Wonder opens the mind to life’s most important questions. In wonder, youths cultivate proper affections for everything good in creation and civilization, forming gentle and perceptive sensibilities. Healthy sensibilities lead to healthy thinking.

A schoolmaster once said, “Poetry begins in delight and ends in wonder. Philosophy begins in wonder and ends in wisdom.” Wonder invites empathy, gratitude, and affection. These are not just subjective feelings. They are proper responses to the world outside of and in relation to us, inviting us to participate in Creation and thereby God’s own Thought. “Nascantur in admiratione!” “Let them be born in wonder!”

The heart must be formed before the head. For youth, leisurely experiences of discovery, when time is not kept – playing in the dirt, contemplating the woods, taking apart an old clock, exploring a tool shed, wandering a garden, perusing a random book – are timeless lessons. Wisdom is knowledge formed by love.

Sunday is our most important school day. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, coupled with leisure, precedes the classroom. Grace and nature invite the young and mature to contemplate vital questions: What’s a good life? What’s happiness? Justice? Suffering and pain? Why do innocent people suffer? What’s good death? Life after death?

“Just as God ‘rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done’ (Genesis 2:2), human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord's Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2184).