Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
October 18, 2000
Children not an 'accessory' to marriage
It is a sad fact of modern culture that couples open to life have to run a gauntlet of criticism from total strangers who look with disdain on families with three or more children. This is especially true of Catholic women, who are frequently prodded to "get on birth control" or "have a tubal ligation."
What a tragedy that so many people have bought into the idea that happiness comes from material possessions, rather than the wonderful gift of life. What parent would accept a mountain made of gold for a single one of their children?
More than 200,000 people from across the globe gathered in Rome last weekend for the Jubilee for Families. In a message broadcast across the globe, the Holy Father told the gathering that children are not an "accessory" but rather "a precious gift" in the plan of marriage.
"The human being was not created for solitude; he carries within himself the vocation of relation, rooted in his spiritual nature itself. He needs interpersonal relations, rich in interiority, gratitude, self-giving in oblation. Among these, the one realized in the family is fundamental."
"That is why the Church has the task of witnessing this original design in history, manifesting its truth and showing that it is possible," the Holy Father added. "In so doing, the Church does not hide the difficulties and dramas that concrete historical experience records in the life of families.
"However, she also knows that the will of God, when accepted and carried out with all one's heart, is not a chain that enslaves but the condition of a genuine liberty that has the fullness of love. The Church also knows, and daily experience confirms it, that when this original design is darkened in consciences, society experiences incalculable harm."
"Children are not an `accessory' in the plan of conjugal life," John Paul emphasized. "They are not something optional, but a precious gift, inscribed in the very structure of conjugal union. By conforming to the word of God, the family becomes a laboratory of humanization and authentic solidarity."
Couples preparing for marriage, and those living the sacrament, should take the Holy Father's words to heart and follow God's plan, not one that is as empty as the half-million dollar homes filled with possessions, but not children, across our state.
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