Sirach, Chapter 17, Verse 4
He put fear of them in all flesh, and gave them
dominion over beasts and birds.
God
has made us greater than the animals and lesser than the angels. Yet, God in
his majesty gave us the power to co-create with Him the human race. Children
are a gift they are to not to fear
their parents like the animals do but children are to have holy fear of their
parents which is to give them love and honor. Indeed the family is a physical
representation of the Holy Trinity. It is interesting to note that God started
the human race through a family (Adam and Eve) and Christ’s first miracle was
at the wedding in Cana which is traditionally the Gospel for the second Sunday
in ordinary time or the second Sunday after Epiphany.
On the third day there was a wedding in
Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus
and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When
the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
(Jn. 2:1-3)
Families
are an essential part of God’s will for all of creation.
For as a young man marries a virgin, your
Builder shall marry you; And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall
your God rejoice in you. (Is. 62:5)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
III. THE LOVE OF
HUSBAND AND WIFE
The fecundity of marriage
The gift of a child
2373 Sacred Scripture and the Church's traditional practice
see in large families a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity.
2374 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!"
2375 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."
2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and
wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or
ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques
(heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the child's
right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by
marriage. They betray the spouses' "right to become a father and a mother
only through each other."
2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous
artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet
remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the
procreative act. The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an
act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that
"entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and
biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and
destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself
contrary to the dignity and equality that must
be common to parents and children." "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."
2378 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."
2379 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.
49
Godly Character Traits[2]
During
this New Year let us take up the nature of God by reflecting on these traits
that make us a model for our children and our sisters and brothers in Christ.
Today reflect on:
Thoroughness vs.
Incompleteness
Knowing what factors will diminish the effectiveness of my work or words if neglected (Proverbs 18:15)
175 "We
guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for without
ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great price, as if
in an excellent vessel, is constantly being renewed and causes the very vessel
that contains it to be renewed."
1426 Conversion
to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy
Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us
"holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of
Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life
received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of
human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace
of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is
the struggle of conversion directed toward
holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.
2416 Animals
are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his
providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory.
Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints
like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.
Daily
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