Day 310: The Gift of a Child (2373-2379)

• It’s Day 310!!

• THE GIFT OF A CHILD

• Because each and every child is a gift and has dignity and the creation of this child is intrinsically connected to the sexual act, there is a massive protective boundary around children and it also preserves the sexual act 

• For the sake of what?

• For the sake of the dignity of each and every person

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory and thank you. Thank you for bringing us to this moment bringing us to this day, Day 310. Lord God, thank you so much for revealing to us truly what are gifts? The gift of life and the gift of family, the gift of friendship, the gift of love. Thank you for the gift of conjugal love in the context of marriage. Thank you so much for all those people who have been called to marriage. Amidst trials, amidst thorns, amidst thistles, amidst the burdens of life, we thank you for the blessings of life. And amidst the struggles of life, we also thank you for the gift of life. And in the midst of the dangers of life, we thank you for the gift of children. Thank you for the gift of children. We pray this day for all those who have children, for all those who do not have children. We thank you and praise you, and we ask you to please, Lord God, bless all of those who long for children and all of those who fear the presence of children in their lives. Help us all to take on your lens to see as you see and to see that every child, every human life is a gift from you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• The Sixth Commandment touches on a lot of topics that are very close to our hearts

• Paragraph 2373 says, “Sacred Scripture and the Church’s traditional practice see in large families a sign of God’s blessings and the parents’ generosity.”

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about the different sizes of families he talks to…

• Sometimes we get really sensitive about areas where we are not quite sure

• Maybe you are sensitive about your appearance

• If someone looked at you they would never notice

• But you are extra sensitive about it

• Do you know what Fr. Mike is saying?

• The Church doesn’t say you have to have a certain number of children in order to be Catholic

• The Church encourages responsible parenthood

• The parents get to decide if this is a time to space out the birth of children

• That is between the couple and the Lord

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about a family that has 16 children…

• There is a lot of joy and love in that family

• We could find another family that has a hard time handling 2 or 3 children

• Not everyone can do 16

• Not everyone is called to do that

• It is still a sign of God’s blessing and a sign of parents’ generosity

• If you have 3, that does not mean you are selfish

• Family is a good

• Paragraph 2374 says, “Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. ‘What will you give me,’ asks Abraham of God, ‘for I continue childless?’ And Rachel cries to her husband Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I shall die!’”

• Being unable to have children is heartbreaking

• There is something so profound about that desire for children that could drive a couple to do almost anything to have a child

• Paragraph 2375 says, “Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed ‘at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God.’”

• Because the child is a gift, the dignity of the child needs to be protected as much as possible

• The research needs to be at the service of the human person, not necessarily the service of mom and dad

• The child has inalienable rights and his true and integral good so there are are certain things like surrogate parenthood that is prohibited

• It is gravely immoral

• Artificial insemination is gravely immoral

• Those are sins

• Why?

• Because they separate the procreative act from the unitive act 

• Paragraph 2377 says, “...’Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses’ union…Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person.”

• So many of us are concerned with the parents or the potential parents

• We want them to have this good thing, the gift of a child

• AND YET…

• The Church says pay attention to that

• If we can have some research that helps couples achieve pregnancy in the context of the conjugal act, then that is wonderful and so good

• There is another person involved here, the child

• Paragraph 2378 says, “A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The ‘supreme gift of marriage’ is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged ‘right to a child’ would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right ‘to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents,’ and ‘the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception.’”

• That can be painful

• There are couples that long for a child who may say, “Why is it that here we are? We are doing everything right.”

• And then there are unintended pregnancies out of wedlock and married couples are trying to do everything right in the context of marriage and the Lord’s and the Church’s teaching

• And they still find themselves childless

• This is a real pain

• If I have a right to a child then the temptation could lead to is to see this as MY child as opposed to the child who is a gift  

• There is something powerful about this

• The idea that husband and wife have a right to a child can be dangerous

• Paragraph 2379 says, “The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord’s Cross, the source of all spiritual fecundity. They can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others.”

• Every single one of us is called to be a saint

• That means that in this broken world, we are all called to unite the broken parts of our lives to the Cross of Jesus Christ

• We have to pick up our cross and follow after Jesus

• What is the greatest pain in your life?

• “Ok, God. Use this. Unite this with you on the Cross. This is me in pain. Let me be united with you on the Cross.”

• There are individuals who long to be parents who have no children

• There are children who long to have parents but don’t

• Maybe we can find each other

• Maybe we can let God bring us together

• Maybe we can love the way we know we are called to love

• We are all called to love with the cards we have been dealt

• We are called to love in the circumstances in which we find ourselves

• We are called to love in the midst of whatever cross it is we find ourselves carrying

• ALL OF US!!

• This is life

• This is reality 

• Let us protect the dignity of children by realizing that no one has a right to a child

• The only one who has a right in this is the child

• They have a right to a mom and a dad

• They have a right not to be property, but to be a gift

• For all those who experience this pain, you are part of the Church

• God loves you

• God has not forgotten you

• God has not abandoned you

• God is there in the midst of your suffering, in the midst of your heartbreak, in the midst of your grief

• HE IS THERE!!

• God is calling you to LOOK UP

• What is the next step God is calling you to?

• To simply say YES, knowing that He is there

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT…