English
EspañolA child, every child, is for their father and mother a fascinating experience of God the Creator of their lives. A child procreated with the Triune God, “hand in hand, side by side,” together through love and for love.
Text
“The child who is born “does not come from outside as something added on to the mutual love of the spouses, but springs from the very heart of that mutual giving, as its fruit and fulfilment.” He or she does not appear at the end of a process, but is present from the beginning of love as an essential feature, one that cannot be denied without disfiguring that love itself.” (The Joy of Love, n.80)
Commentary
Conjugal love is oriented towards the fecundity of children. Each child is not only a genealogical singularity – but much more. Every child is an unprecedented personal spirit, unique, of absolute value that lasts forever. We, the parents, contribute genetics to the child; however, they still lack the most essential and differential aspect of their being; the reality of their personal spirit, that of each child, which is where parents see the manifestation of God’s intervention in procreation. A creative intervention of his spirit that surpasses our human capacities. That incarnated spirit, the spirit of each child, is entrusted to our love as spouses and parents. So that we may love them unconditionally, educate them, care for them, and keep the flame of their life alive.
Those of us who have children know that each of them is a blessing and a gift that surpasses us. Some – hopefully much – of what they have in their minds and hearts comes from us. We have fathered them; we shape them; we watch them grow, make their own decision, form their own families. All of that is thanks to us. It is, without a doubt, a great mystery: they, each of them, have been present in the love story shared with my wife from the beginning as a tiny seed until they became a mature tree.
