Message on Population
THE SUBJECT OF POPULATION is first of all about people, and it is from this premise that we must proceed whenever we discuss demographics. The term "population" must be understood to mean "the people at large", and not merely "the number of the people". Thus, the context of any discussion on population must be the dignity of the human person, which treats of human beings being made in God's image and likeness (Gn 1:26).
OUR MAKER IS OUR OWNER
| My dear friends, it will be easier for us to understand human dignity when we realize that ultimately and above all, we belong to God. None of us had the honor of being consulted as to whether we preferred to exist or not. It was God who exercised the prerogative to create us, and therefore, we cannot claim to own ourselves. The principle is simple: the Maker is the Owner. |
Important as the family may be, yet it cannot claim full ownership over its members. Jesus said: "He who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:37). We do not even belong to ourselves. As Jesus added: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate ... yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:26).
If these be so for family and self, can the human person be a property of Caesar? Obviously not. We do owe allegiance to the State, but we must give to God what is God's (cf. Mt 22:21). And we belong to God, who knit each one of us in his or her mother's womb (cf. Ps 139:13) and who said, "I have called you by your name. You are mine!" (Is 43:1). My friends, everything flows from this truth.
PERSONAL INTEGRITY
This being the case, every person is duty bound to maintain his or her personal integrity -- because we are only stewards of our own selves who must make sure that we return ourselves, intact and improved, back to the Owner. No one is at liberty to damage or mutilate or in any way pollute his or her body, mind, or spirit. We have no right to destroy what does not belong to us. We have to take care of the health of our whole person; and so, any intervention meant to upset the ecological balance within a human person is an affront to God's ownership. And any affront to God's ownership is a foolish declaration that we do not belong to him, that is to say, that we own ourselves. This is the essence of sin, a challenge to God's dominion over the human self.
NO RIGHT TO BUY OR SELL OR GRAB OR KILL
My dear friends, is it alright to sell something that does not belong to you? No -- that would be an injustice. In the light of what we have just discussed, it is now easier to understand why we have no right to sell ourselves, whether in body or soul or spirit. And as a corollary, nobody has the right to buy another person. That is called prostitution and slavery, isn't it? Much less is it alright to grab what is not one's own. That is why we cannot go around grabbing other persons for our personal use or pleasure. That would be called abduction, kidnapping or rape. Least of all can we destroy what is not ours. It is not right for us to take our own lives nor the life of other human beings, since we were not the giver of that life in the first place. That would be suicide or murder or abortion or euthanasia, and there are many other names we call killing, including capital punishment.
TO GIVE ONESELF TO OTHERS
I once explained to a chinese friend of mine who was not yet a Catholic, that once upon a time, mankind had been sold to the devil. Then I explained how the human race was redeemed at a great price. Thereafter, I asked him this question: "Would it be alright to give ourselves away for free?" He thought about it for a moment and replied, "If selling ourselves is bad business, then giving ourselves away for free would be worse!" He had very keen business sense, don't you agree? However, we have to look more closely at this business of giving ourselves to others for free. It is not right to donate something that does not belong to us. But since God created us to love and to be loved, we are allowed -- and even mandated (as in Jn 15:13, 13:34, 17:26) -- to give ourselves away for free, out of love, unto death: on condition that we obtain God's clear permission and blessing. For a man and a woman to give themselves to one another in this way, but in an exclusive manner, is part of God's design. This kind of permission and blessing is called "Marriage". Mutual donation without God's permission is a sin called fornication or in other instances, adultery. Marriage is the beginning of that holy way that leads two persons back to God, and by which they lead other new persons -- their children -- back to God.
THE RIGHT WAY TO PLAN
It is for this reason that husband and wife have to make plans, in order to be responsible parents. Responsible to whom? Primarily to God, of course, who in fact already has the plan for them in his mind. There is nothing wrong with family, and there is nothing wrong with planning. "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" (Lk 14:28). But when we talk about "family planning" for responsible parenthood, we must sort out the weeds and capture the authentic meaning of the term. For a husband and wife, it means a constant and prayerful discernment of God's plan for their married life and their family, followed by the faithful implementation of that plan. It requires a continuous consultation with God, because God unravels his plans to us gradually, and if we are faithful to it, we shall see our lives and relationships metamorphose into something that satisfies the innermost longings of our hearts. No "comprehensive program" devised by men (or women, for that matter) -- no matter how craftily worded, technically sophisticated, or superbly financed -- can rival God's loving plans. The words of the prophet Isaiah ring true even to this day for those who conspire to create social change in ways alien to God's laws: "Woe to the rebellious children", says the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine; and who make a league, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my counsel, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!" (Is 30:1-2).
UNDERSTANDING THOSE WHO DISAGREE
WITH RELIGION AND FAMILY RIGHTS
My observation is that our so-called "enemies" in the seemingly escalating "demographic war" and the family planning controversy are often wounded people who are anxiously -- perhaps unconsciously -- trying to justify some past mistake. They do this by striving to increase their ranks, to console themselves with the thought that it is normal to live with a battered conscience. My dear sisters and brothers, if you have the heart of Christ -- a shepherd's heart -- you will understand why our Lord Jesus wants us to love our enemies (cf. Mt 5:44). It is precisely because they are deeply hurt. And it is ultimately only the power of God's love -- as shown in his mercy -- that can comfort them and heal them. Come to me all you who labor and are burdened! He is calling them -- and us (cf. Mt 11:28).
DEALING WITH THE "DIFFICULT" SUBJECT
How do we deal with this "difficult subject"? We deal with it by being disposed to receiving the "difficult virtue". We must call it by its true names: chastity, cleanliness of body, mind and heart. Many of us seem to think that it is solely through a cerebral inquiry via the social, moral and ecclesiastical sciences that we will unravel the enigmas of sexuality, marriage, childbearing, and family living. This is not so. When the apostles faced the "difficult cases" in their ministry, what did they do? They went to Jesus privately and said "Why could we not cast it out?" And what did our Lord reply? "Because of your little faith" (Mt 17:19-20). On another occasion, in the case of a deaf and dumb spirit they could not expel, the Lord answered: "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer" (Mk 9:29). My friends, the answers to the most mundane mysteries of the flesh are found in the most sublime endeavors of the spirit: pray, fast, and do good works. In order to understand and conquer ourselves, we must take the viewpoint of our own Creator. We must become Godlike, in order to see His point of view, to be one with him. "How blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God" (Mt 5:8). So what else is new?
LIGHT AND DARKNESS: IRRECONCILABLE
I wish to end these reflections by speaking of the sacredness of the body -- of Christ and his members. For Jesus promised that he and the Father would make their home with us (Jn 14:23). He also ascertained that his flesh is food indeed, and that those who would receive him will rise again, body and soul (cf. Jn 6:48~). Make no mistake about it: the Eucharist is at the very center of our faith. This is Jesus himself, the Lamb of God! The parts of our body which physically touch the Eucharistic Jesus are those which we use to "take and eat" -- the hands and the mouth. What would you think if a man were to have the Sacred Host on his palm in the morning, but in the evening holds the same palm open not for bread but for a rolled up piece of thin rubber? Or a woman who has the Lord on her tongue, and half a day later lays a birth control pill on the same tongue? The contrast is clear and graphic. For a Christian it should be easy to understand why the living center of our faith and contraceptive technologies would be ultimately irreconcilable. If only we had even a little faith! How do you reconcile having on the same palm or tongue the Host which conveys abundant and eternal life with a contraceptive designed to prevent the transmission of life in its origins? They are irreconcilable. But if you should insist on forcing the issue, there is one way to do so, and it is this: Beat up your conscience. As I have remarked earlier, many of the consciences of God's people are black and blue from bludgeoning, and many more have been knocked out by the contraceptive and anti-life mentalities. But your ways, O Lord, are not ours. My friends, it is time for us to heal the People of God. For this Lord God, your people are sorely troubled.
How long, Lord?
How long must we wait
before you deliver us for the sake of your steadfast love? (cf. Ps 6:3-4).
Make us know your plans, lead us in the truth.
We seek your kingdom and your justice above all,
trusting that the good things in this life
shall be given us besides.
we need the help of Mary, Mother of Life and Queen of Peace, to intercede for us.
This item 438 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
