Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPlYLiqDU4
“See that you do not despise one of
these little ones” Our Lord tells us in this Gospel.
As I was pondering this line and
preparing for this homily, I received a message from lifesitenews.com with this
week’s cover of Time Magazine attached.
This cover reads “The Childfree Life – when having it all means not
having children.” It shows a young couple smiling and relaxing
on a beach.
And the words of the Lord all made
sense. For if our culture doesn’t
despise children, it’s one that increasingly doesn’t value children, that
doesn’t see children as a gift, a blessing, a culture that more and more sees
children as a burden. The gist of the
Time Magazine article is that children get in the way of living the good life. And, sad to say, that’s an attitude that’s
becoming more widespread. Kids require
self-sacrifice, self-giving, and aren’t those virtues out of style?
You see, Jesus lived in a time when
little children, if not despised, were held in no esteem. Both the Greek world and the Roman Empire
routinely, and legally, practiced infanticide.
It was really the advent of Christianity, of Judeo-Christian attitudes,
that put an end to that practice. But sadly,
in our western world that seems increasingly wont to reject the Judeo-Christian
beliefs of two millenia, many of those attitudes toward children have returned. The brouhaha in Texas a few weeks back was
entirely about whether 8- and 9-month unborn babies should be protected, or
whether they can be legally aborted. I
saw a poll of young people last week which showed a disturbing amount of
support for expanding the right to abortion to children after birth.
And the belief that a fundamental
purpose of marriage is the procreation of children has gradually and steadily
gone by the wayside. Our nation’s
birthrate is at the lowest it’s been in history, and is rapidly approaching the
levels seen in Europe, where a population disaster is in the works, where the
birthrate is far below even a replacement level.
Indeed, if children are a gift, a
blessing, from God, then a culture which routinely accepts artificial
contraception and legal abortion must give the devil great satisfaction.
So what’s the point? Since I know I’m largely preaching to the
choir here this morning?
It’s simply this – be aware and
vigilant about these attitudes, these trends that are all around us, and know
that we as Catholics are called to stand in opposition, to be a light in the
darkness. Pope Paul said in Humanae
Vitae that the Church is called to be a “sign of contradiction” against the
culture in which we live. You and I are
called to always exhibit an attitude of love and respect for children of all
ages, born and unborn. And called to
acknowledge that marriage is fundamentally about procreation and education of
offspring.
And pray. Pray without ceasing. Placing our trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ,
who had a special place in His heart for the littlest ones among us, that we
may have the strength and courage to do our part to transform our culture and
build His Kingdom here on earth.
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