The Blessings of Children

    “The Lord said to Cain: ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground’ (Gen 4:10). The voice of the blood shed by men continues to cry out, from generation to generation, in ever new and different ways. The Lord’s questio...
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“You Don’t Owe Me Anything”

    I may flatter myself, but I like to think I’ve matured as a prolifer. and having learned some philosophy and theology,  I was pro-life out of moral principle. Now, however, I increasingly think that to be pro-life is to share in the extravagant love and mercy of God...
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Appendix A: Why Have Children?

The point of having children is to increase the number of the saints. In the 1979 Prayer Book—which in this regard sets forth a more traditional exposition than its U.S. predecessors—children are one of the three intentions God has for marriage. “The union of husband and wife . ....
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The Optimism of Adam

When ashes are imposed at the beginning of Lent various words are spoken, but the traditional ones are “Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” These reach back to the first human being, the Adam, into whom God breathed life after forming him from...
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Pope Francis, Pets, Babies . . . and God

Pope Francis has been widely criticized for comments he made last week about young couples choosing pets over children: We see that people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have...
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The Eighth Child

A family I am friendly with recently brought home their eighth child. A day or two later, as we sat around their dining room table, I wanted to find out what the other children were thinking of their new brother. “His ears are tiny!” “And his nose.” “He’s got pink skin. It’s...
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