Be life’s co-author

By Sarah-Leah Pimentel

When we were children, our catechists taught us to give up something for Lent as a way of recalling how much Jesus gave up for us by dying on the Cross.  This is a good Lenten habit most of us have carried into adulthood, because it allows us to practise self-discipline. But how often in our journey through Lent do we consider the miracle of new life we received through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection? More precisely, when was the last time we reflected on the miracle of new life that God shares with us?

God is the author of all aspects of life we see around us. The Creator has willed it all into being — the glorious spectacle of colour of each sunrise, the awesome majesty of a perfectly sculpted mountain top or the wonder of a baby’s first breath. All these are small signs of God’s creative power that renews itself each day.

But God never intended to keep the creative gift to himself — he wants all of us to have a share in it. This is why God also gives us the ability to create new life. Perhaps no one experiences this gift more personally than a pregnant mother as she feels her unborn child growing in her womb, waiting excitedly and anxiously for the day she gives birth so that she can finally meet this miracle of new life. Imagine then what God’s joy must be every time new life comes into the world, especially the birth of a human child.

However, we cannot create anything that is lasting if it is divorced from God’s creative spirit. We participate in the act of creation through unity with God. God cannot create human life without our willing participation and while we, as human beings, can create life without acknowledging God’s involvement, science has as yet to create a perfect human life outside of the womb. When we think of everything that can go wrong during pregnancy (and which sometimes does), we cannot help but to recognise that giving birth to a perfect baby is a miracle over which we have no control.

How do we foster this miracle of creation and new life in our lives in our families? It is sometimes difficult to think about our families in this way, especially when we are so often assailed by the daily battle of wills among its members, numerous difficulties ranging from disease to financial instability, to the hurt that grows when we disappoint each other. Yet God calls each of us to bring life to our families.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God” (2367). Allowing life to take root in our families requires us to accept the gift of life that God wants to share with our families. In particular here I want to look at an unspoken barrier to modern-day family life: contraception.

The Church teaches that artificial means of contraception are “intrinsically evil” (Catechism 2370) because it destroys life and threatens family life. Yet, contraception is the most commonly used family planning method in our families today.

But to me, it’s not so much the means of contraception (which in some cases are abortifacients and in other instances prevent conception) as the “contraceptive mentality” that threatens our families.

Pope John Paul II says that the “contraceptive mentality” (Evangelium vitae, Ch1,13) is the product of modern man’s selfishness. It is this mentality that leads married couples to decide when life should occur. They tell each other: “We’re not ready to start a family yet. We still want to travel, we’re not in a financial position to do so, we’re too young, we’re too old, we want to build our careers first so that we can provide everything our children will need.”

Poverty can also be a determining factor. Families often agree that “we can’t afford to feed, clothe and educate more than one or two children. It’s not right to bring another hungry mouth into this family.” I do not for a minute suggest that these are not valid arguments, but they do put a limit on God’s creative power. Where families use contraception, God cannot act.

When we say “no” to sharing God’s gift of creation, we are saying “no” to sharing life with him; and if we reject life with him, we stop God from entering the door of our homes, our families and our hearts. If God does not have a place in our homes, which we also call the “domestic church”, then how can we honestly say that God has a place in our churches, where the domestic churches come together to worship. What hope do we have that God will have a place in our society, when we’ve shut the door of our hearts on his him and his gifts?

In opposition to this contraceptive mentality is what Pope John Paul II called a “culture of life” which promotes life in all of its dimensions. He emphasised that the “the role of the family in building a culture of life is decisive and irreplaceable” (Evangelium vitae, ch4: 92) because it will “confront and solve today’s unprecedented problems affecting human life” because by our example, we will contribute to “a serious and courageous cultural dialogue” (95) among Christians and non-believers alike.

Perhaps this Lent we’re called to examine our own family situations and determine how we can foster human life in all of its aspects with the means we have available to us.

Why not sit down with your family this Lent and have an open and honest conversation about family life and answering God’s invitation to foster life according to the individual circumstances of your own families?

This could mean the use of natural family planning (which the Church allows and encourages) instead of the use of contraceptives; reaching out to members of your extended family who may need some help in raising large families; or simply by spending more time playing with your children and showing them how to meet life’s challenges and be “fully alive” (John 10:10).