FORMING MAN TO BE

THE ESSENCE OF BEING AND ITS TRANSCENDENT VOCATION

The drama of the human being lies not in its deficiencies but in its vocation: to transcend. In its most intimate essence, being is not a mere accident in the course of history or a cog in the social machinery. As perennial tradition teaches, being is, above all, a reflection of the absolute, an image projected toward its ultimate end. In the words of Rafael Gambra, “man does not fulfill himself within himself but in the encounter with the truth that transcends and contains him.”

Chesterton clearly understood that the root of modern errors lies in ignoring this essential truth. “The modern man doubts everything except himself,” he wrote. But being is not an individualistic construction nor an act of self-definition. It is participation in the order of the universe, a reflection of a higher reality that calls man not just to exist, but to exist in fullness.

It is this fullness of being, not mere utility, that defines true education. Forming man to be means guiding his existence toward what is true, good, and beautiful. As Danilo Castellano taught, “education is not a mechanical process or a technique but a deeply ontological act: the being who educates guides the being being educated toward his perfection.”

THE FAMILY: CRADLE OF BEING IN FULLNESS

The family, in its essence, is not just a natural institution; it is the first space where the human being finds his place in the world. It is here that the being receives his first lessons in transcendence, not through abstract theories but through the daily example of love, sacrifice, and obedience.

Louis de Bonald affirmed, “the family is the most complete form of community, for it unites the temporal with the eternal.” Within the family, the human being learns that his existence is not an end in itself but is destined for something greater, something that surpasses him. Here, being discovers that he does not entirely belong to himself, that he is made to give, to love, to surrender.

For this reason, any attack on the family is an attack on the essence of being. Modernity, obsessed with individualism, has sought to strip the family of its formative role, replacing it with impersonal structures and state-controlled education systems. But, as Álvaro d’Ors warned, “being cannot be formed by a state machine because only in the warmth of the home are the virtues cultivated that make communal life possible.”

BEING AND THE COMMON GOOD

Being is not an isolated individual but a relational being, called to live in community. Yet, this community is not built upon arbitrary agreements or mutual interests but upon a deeper root: the common good. This good is not the simple sum of individual goods but the order in which each being finds his place and perfection.

The family is the first expression of this common good. Within it, being learns that fullness is not achieved in isolation but in giving oneself to others. Chesterton masterfully expressed it: “The home is the only institution that makes men face their limitations and at the same time teaches them to overcome them.” It is there that being learns to sacrifice for others, to recognize authority, and to live justice as a practical virtue.

This learning cannot be imposed from the outside. As Danilo Castellano taught, “the common good cannot be designed or manufactured because it is the natural fruit of a community that lives according to the order of being.” The modern attempt to impose the common good from the state, ignoring the reality of the family, has resulted in nothing but chaos and uprooting. For the common good cannot be decreed; it must be lived.

AGAINST RELATIVISM: EDUCATING FOR THE ETERNAL

The great crisis of modernity is not economic, political, or cultural; it is an ontological crisis. It is the rejection of being and the truth that sustains it. As Félix Sardá y Salvany noted, “the gravest error of our time is to pretend that education can be neutral, that it can dispense with the truth.”

Modern relativism is not a tolerant stance but a form of nihilism that reduces being to a mere social construct. Nicolás Gómez Dávila put it clearly: “Modern education does not teach how to live but how to survive. It has replaced the search for the good with the worship of utility.”

Against this nihilism, education must be an act of contemplation, a search for being in all its fullness. This cannot take place in the impersonal classrooms of a state system but in the home, where truth is lived and passed down from generation to generation. “The home is the place where the eternal meets the everyday,” Chesterton wrote. There, in the simplest acts of daily life, human beings learn the deepest lessons about their transcendent vocation.

RESTORING BEING THROUGH THE FAMILY

The solution to our time’s crisis does not lie in new theories or political reforms but in restoring the family as the place where being finds its fullness. This means restoring its central role in education, protecting it from state interference, and recognizing its sacred character.

Hilaire Belloc stated, “the family is the heart of society, and no reform will last until we put the heart back in its place.” This does not mean rejecting public education but subordinating it to the eternal principles the family represents. As Juan Vallet de Goytisolo wrote, “authentic education is not a technical process but a profoundly human act that can only begin within the family.”

Restoring the family is not just an act of justice toward natural order; it is an act of resistance against nihilism that threatens to destroy human beings in their essence. The family is where the most important commandment is lived and passed on: to love God above all things and one’s neighbor as oneself (Mt 22:37-39). It is, therefore, the path through which human beings are taught to recognize their divine origin and ultimate vocation: to be children of God and attain eternal salvation.

CONCLUSION: BEING TO TRANSCEND

Forming man to be is not just an educational challenge; it is the fundamental challenge of civilization. It is to recognize that human beings do not fulfill themselves in dominating the world but in contemplating the truth that transcends them. This truth is not an abstraction; it is a living reality, embodied in the family and transmitted through tradition.

As the Psalmist wrote: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Ps 127:1). The family’s core is not merely of social importance but the place where human beings learn to recognize God’s presence in the everyday. It is there, in the home, where they learn to pray, to love, and to live for eternity.

The future of humanity, and of all society, depends on its ability to rediscover this eternal truth: that we are creatures of God, made for Him, called to communion with Him. Only in this recognition, lived within the family, can we find the path to salvation and a truly human civilization.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Chesterton, G.K. What’s Wrong with the World. Madrid: Ediciones Encuentro.

2. Castellano, Danilo. Articles and essays collected in Il principio dimenticato. Milan: Edizioni Ares.

3. Bonald, Louis de. Théorie du pouvoir politique et religieux. Paris: Librairie de Charles Douniol.

4. Donoso Cortés, Juan. Essay on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos.

5. Gambra, Rafael. The Silence of God. Madrid: Ediciones Rialp.

6. Sardá y Salvany, Félix. Liberalism is a Sin. Barcelona: Librería Católica Internacional.

7. D’Ors, Álvaro. Violence and Order. Madrid: Fundación Francisco Elías de Tejada.

8. Vallet de Goytisolo, Juan. Family and Education in Natural Law. Madrid: Ediciones Cristiandad.

9. Belloc, Hilaire. The Servile State. London: Constable & Co.

10. Gómez Dávila, Nicolás. Scholia to an Implicit Text. Bogotá: Villegas Editores.

11. Elías de Tejada, Francisco. Tradition as a Political Principle. Seville: Fundación Elías de Tejada.