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HEALING OF LIFE AND FAMILY
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The family is the cradle of life. But a culture of death is fast sleeping into our country that many families are unable to give and sustain life. New philosophies and lifestyles have changed the way parents see the child as a gift of God, not only to themselves but to humankind. The propaganda that a small family is better than a large family instills a contraceptive mentality that allows sex whenever one wants it, but not the baby –a responsibility. The overpopulation scare has identified the baby as a burden, another mouth to feed, and the cause of poverty, environmental destruction, and a host of other social problems.
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The truth is not explained enough – that poverty is caused by unequal distribution, graft and corruption, and foreign debt. According to Mahatma Gandhi, “There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but there will never be enough for one person’s greed.”
This anti-baby mentality has brought in many new problems. The easy availability of contraceptives has ushered in sexual irresponsibility, even among the unmarried.
Contraceptives are not 100% successful so unwanted pregnancies end in abortion. If the child survives, he has a gut feeling that he is unwanted, a reject for life. Scientific researches reveal that the fetus has strong feelings even in the womb.
Abortion-survivors refer not only to those who did not die in an attempted abortion. These include those who survived the pills and injectables and IUDs that their moms were using since these so-called contraceptives in fact have abortifacient effects.
Abortion-survivors are also the bothers and sisters of the aborted. Many of them have an anxiety about life – why was I born and not my brother or sister? What does the world expect of me? Will I be able to measure up? A child should not be bothered with these questions. He should enjoy his childhood because he knows he has a right to this life and his needs attended to. But our schools are overrun with children who carry this burden in their hearts and therefore go into the extremes of rebelling or isolating themselves, instead of participating normally in the activities.
Contraception has also destroyed the real meaning of the sexual or marital act. Men look at women as objects of pleasure. When he cannot get what he wants, he batters her. Feminists have joined those clamoring for the legalization of absolute divorce. But is this the answer? Will allowing them another marriage automatically make them more mature and successful the second time, or the third time? (The Bill on Divorce does not say a limit for the number of remarriages allowed!)
Since the sexual revolution that started in the 60s, pornography has escalated, as well as prostitution, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality. Contraception is proposed as the solution to avoiding the side-effects of these sexual immoralities. Contraception, according to the promoters, promises no pregnancy, no AIDS, and a blissful time together. A frog that is dropped into boiling water will struggle and jump put. But if the frog is placed in a pot of cold water first and the heat turned on, the frog will not even know that it is already boiling. Just like frogs, many of us did not even know that the family was already being threatened from all sides.
As children grow up knowing that their parents have decided who should be born and born, euthanasia is just around the corner. The children now decide when and how their parents should die as they are now the burden. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace in the world today. If a mother is allowed to kill her child, what will stop us from killing one another?”
This culture of death has seeped into our society that there are now bills in congress precisely to legalize DEATH: Divorce, Euthanasia, Abortion, Total fertility control, and Homosexual unions or marriages.
The challenge to each one of us is LIFE: Learning to love and live a life of dignity and respect for all person, no matter what age, color, sex, social status, or religion. Information dissemination, using all means to promote a culture of life wherever we are – in the schoolroom, in your home, in your Church, or in the street. Be critical of media and use it to promote our God-given beliefs in preserving the family. Fidelity to your Church Teachings, to thruth, honesty and generosity and courage. Extend help to those in need – the woman in pregnancy crisis, the couples needing our timely advice or referral to marriage counselors, to each and every child that God sends to us. Let us continue to emphasize Natural Family Planning in our programs as the answer to our couples’ need for achieving, limiting or spacing.
Natural Family Planning, if taught properly and with values, enhances marriage and family life while helping the spouses become more mature, generous and responsible. You may reefer girls and women with problems to the Good Shepherd Sisters at Welcome House (telephone no. 563-6363). I commend all the organizations and programs of the Church that help in the healing of families. We now have a directory where anyone with a specific concern can be referred to. You may call up our Pro-life office for a copy, or call our hotline number at 422-8877 and you will be referred to the agency that will attend to the problem. There are also more and more groups offering training in crisis counseling. Each of us can, in our own way, reach out to the immediate need of our brothers and sisters by our attentiveness and alertness to their needs. No one should be turned away by our Church just because we do not have a program in place. It will mean extra time and effort and even financial help on our part but if there are many of us, then the burden will be lighter. “I have come that you may have life – life in abundance” (John 3:16)
Let us claim this birthright and say “Mabuhay sa ating lahat!”
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