By Father MieczysЕ‚aw Piotrowski TChr,
Love One Another! 4/2004 → Christian family
Each child conceived in a mother’s womb reveals something
of the nature of our Creator’s love, a love that is all-powerful
and yet at the same time meek and defenseless. Every newly conceived
human being is a spark of God’s light created for the purpose
of dispelling the powers of darkness, sin, and death. That is why
Satan works so hard to prevent the conception of new human beings.
It explains his powerful assault on human sexuality, unborn children,
and the institution of family. In this way he seeks to revenge himself
upon the miracle of the Incarnation, to stop the growth of the Kingdom
of God, and to take as many souls as possible with him into eternal
damnation.
Jesus tells us that Satan was a murderer from the beginning (John
8 : 44). He is the principal instigator behind the depravity of
unbridled sex and pornography. It is he who induces people to inflict
that appalling legally sanctioned crime upon unborn children. Every
year, about 70 million children, the world’s most innocent
and defenseless human beings, are snuffed out in their mothers’
wombs in the most appalling manner. And the world considers this
genocide a great achievement and a democratic right!
Satan’s master plan for the destruction of the family consists
not only in the murder of the unborn, but also in preventing the
conception of new human beings. Our loving God has His own very
specific plan for every marriage. He decides how many children a
family is to have. The married couple’s role is to discern
His divine intention, acquiesce in it, and gratefully accept every
newly conceived child as God’s greatest treasure. Jesus knows
if a family is meant to have two, five, or just one child. To oppose
God’s plans, to close ourselves to the conception of new life
is to cooperate with the powers of darkness in destroying the Kingdom
of God.
God is the source and giver of life. For Him, every human being
has infinite dignity and value from the moment of conception. Every
human being is His beloved child. Man’s dignity derives not
from his IQ, level of development, age, or social status, but from
the very fact of his humanity.
Our Triune God is Love itself, which in its eternal begetting of
the Son, transmits life and calls new human beings to life. When
married couples oppose God’s plan and take every precaution
not to have the children that God intends for them, they are thwarting
His creative power. This is an act of great presumption and a grave
sin. It violates the primeval commandment we received at the beginning
of creation, Be fruitful and multiply (Gen
1 : 28). We turn our backs on God’s plan for purely selfish
reasons. We renounce having children because it means work and sacrifice.
We do not want anyone apart from ourselves. We reject having more
children because they will make our life less comfortable. We do
not wish to take responsibility for others so as to bear their burdens.
And yet we would have others bear ours!
To renounce the bearing and raising of children is also to pass
up a unique opportunity and a marvelous adventure: that of growing
in love. Love is life’s greatest treasure. We achieve it and
grow in it only through the unselfish gift of ourselves to God and
others. A married couple’s most important career is to discern
and carry out God’s plan for their marriage – to bear
and rear the children that God sends them. This is a hundred times
more important than academic titles and professional status. The
family can only fulfil the mission entrusted to it by God when Jesus
Christ is the basis of their union and remains the source of their
love. They must receive Christ’s love in daily prayer and
the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, and share this love
with one another. There is only one real requirement: to earnestly
desire a pure, loving heart, for Jesus bestows this gift on anyone
that desires and asks for it. To keep their family intact, to turn
it into a community in which the presence of God is experienced
through reciprocal love, in which children can grow up and mature
in holiness – to achieve this, the parents must live the spirit
of Christ’s beatitude, Blessed are the pure of heart. This
is why Jesus encourages couples to join the Movement of Pure Hearts
for Married Couples. To become members of MPHMC, you must first
go to Confession and Holy Communion, renew your wedding vows, and
say the following prayer of consecration:
Lord,
we offer You our memory, our mind, our soul, and body. Teach
us to love one another and our children with a love that flows
from Your merciful heart. Lord Jesus Christ, grant both of us
a pure heart modeled on Your own, that our life together may be
built upon a prudent and generous love, a love that is devoted,
not self-seeking, and stands in defense of Your laws and commandments.
May we be aided in this through daily family prayer, the rosary,
the chaplet of Divine Mercy, Holy Mass, and frequent reception
of Holy Communion. May we immediately confess every serious sin
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Lord Jesus, be the one Lord
of our life. Teach us to achieve mastery over our sexual drives
and feelings, that our love for one another and for our children
may not depend on changing moods and states of feeling, but remain
constant in its concern and expression of kindness. Grant us a
pure conjugal love, that we may make an unselfish gift of ourselves
to each other. Cleanse our love of every sign of selfishness,
that we may forgive one another, put aside grudges, and pray for
each other. To remain pure in heart, we promise never to read,
buy, or look at pornographic magazines, programs or films, to
avoid artificial contraception, and always to be ready to accept
every child with which God should gift us. We ask You, Lord, to
help us avoid everything that makes us dependent, that enslaves
our will or inclines us to evil. Mary, our Mother lead us along
the way of faith, to the very source of Love in our marriage –
to Jesus, that we may trust and believe
in Him alone.
Amen.
We encourage you to inform us in writing of this great event. Send
us your address, date of birth, and also the date that you joined
the MPHMC community. We, in turn, will send you a special blessing
and enroll you in our Book of Pure Hearts.
Jesus very much wants you to keep sending us your testimonies and
thereby share with others the treasure of our Faith and the secret
to authentic married life. Our sincere greetings to you all. Be
assured of our daily prayers for your intentions.
The article was published with the permission from "Love One Another!"
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