When you think of those having large families, whom do you think of?
Conservative Catholics, primarily, right? Yes, and I guess the Muslims too. And don’t forget the Mormons, either.
Yet, after those examples, it becomes difficult to think up what people are having large families anymore.
Why is this?
BLAME FALLS ON ADOPTING THE CULTURE OF DEATH
The fault lies in the adoption of the Culture of Death within our society, especially by Christians—including Catholics.
The Culture of Death seeks to undermine every foundation for society, including the right to life and the importance of the family. Gone are the days where nuclear families—father, mother, children—are valued. In place of serving as the building block for a just society, autonomy and selfishness rule instead.
Our culture has become so hedonistic, it pits adults against children. It labels the latter as burdensome, expensive, and to-be-tolerated-in-small-numbers. This is how contraception and abortion remain rampant elements of Western society.
It has gotten to the point where society pretty well values death over life. Non-being over being.
As a result, few, if any, children are brought into the world. A hatred for children floats in the air, even if not spoken verbally.
BETTER TO EXIST THAN NOT TO
Contrast that depressing, limited worldview to what God expects. Heeding God’s commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28, 9:7), faithful followers remain open to life. They follow the Natural Law, known to each man or woman, by way of reason.
They do not wish to put limits on God’s generosity. They do not wave off blessings God wishes to pour on them.
The truth is, being is better than non-being. Existence is better than non-existence.
WHO COULD BE MISSING?
Think of all the great saints we would be missing if Modernism’s novelty of limiting family size were pervasive for centuries, instead of decades.
Imagine if the parents of these great saints decided for themselves they would limit their family sizes to just two, just one, or even no children.
What follows is a brief list of saints having large families as children:
St. Basil of Caesarea (1 of 10) (Doctor of the Church)
St. Bernadette of Lourdes (1st of 7)
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (3rd of 7)
St. Casimir of Poland (3rd of 13)
St. Catherine of Genoa (5th of 5)
St. Catherine of Siena (23rd of 25 children) (Doctor of the Church)
St. Charles Borromeo (3rd of 6)
St. Faustina Kowalska (3rd of 10)
St. Francis de Sales (1st of 13) (Doctor of the Church)
St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother (11th of 13)
St. Gianna Beretta Molla (herself the 10th of 13) (she also died to save her 4th child)
St. Hedwig (1 of 8)
St. Ignatius of Loyola (13th of 13)
St. Joan of Arc (4th of 5)
St. Louis de Montfort (1 of 18 children)
St. Mary Alacoque (5th of 7)
Pope St. Pius X (2nd of 11)
St. Robert Bellarmine (3rd f 10) (Doctor of the Church)
St. Teresa of Avila (3rd of 11) (Doctor of the Church)
St. Therese of Lisieux (9th of 9) (Doctor of the Church)
St. Thomas Aquinas (9th of 9) (Doctor of the Church)
Imagine how much our Church would be depraved, without these great saints—many of whom are doctors of the Church.
Of course, it’s not just saints we could list as examples. Here are famous Americans and other prominent figures having large families in their youth too:
Ludwig van Beethoven (3rd of 8)
Stephen Colbert (11th of 11)
Bing Crosby (4th of 7)
Celine Dion (14th of 14)
Benjamin Franklin (1 of 20)
Jim Gaffigan (6th of 6)
Mel Gibson (6th of 11)
Evander Holyfield (9th of 9)
Thomas Jefferson (3rd of 10)
President John F. Kennedy (1 of 9)
Wolfgang Mozart (7th of 7)
Bill Murray (1 of 9)
Conan O’Brien (3rd of 6)
Dolly Parton (1 of 12)
William Shakespeare (1 of 8)
Martin Sheen (7th of 10)
George Washington (5th of 10)
What if Mozart’s parents decided after the sixth kid they were through? Our world would never have been blessed with its greatest composer. Had the Washingtons stopped after their fourth, would America have won the Revolutionary War?
Had Jim Gaffigan’s parents decided they didn’t want anymore blessing from God after five children already, we would never have been made to laugh by their sixth child.
CONTRACEPTIVE MENTALITY
The truth is, the contraceptive mentality depraves future generations from ever existing.
But, when it comes down to it, isn’t that the goal of the Culture of Death? To cease existing?
Isn’t their goal to make prolonging the human race, as our human nature impels us to do, something unthinkable?
Why else are you made to feel guilty for harming the earth? As if you’re supposed to care more about your carbon footprint than your following God’s will for your family. As if the non-existing global warming takes precedence over fulfilling God’s commandments.
The Culture of Death worships the earth, instead of worshiping the One Who created it, in the beginning (Genesis 1:1).
Not only has our society forgotten God’s first command to be fruitful and multiply, but also his next that said mankind was to subdue and rule over the earth (Genesis 1:28).
YOUR TURN
What are your thoughts on the reluctance for having large families?
Do you ever wonder how many wonderful people we’re missing, thanks to the adoption of the Culture of Death?
Leave your comment below.
