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AUGUST 3, 1957.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
TWENTY-ONE
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CONGRATULATIONS
NURSES’ PROFESSIONAL
REGISTRY
HENRY GRADY HOTEL
FAMILY CLINIC
Relatives And Friends Say We
Are Having Children Too Fast
(By Father John L. Thomas, S.
J. Assistant Professor of Sociol
ogy at St. Louis University.)
We’ve just had our third child
in four years. We’re healthy,
happy, relatively free from debt,
and quite contented with the way
the things are going. We wanted
a family when we married and
are grateful to God for giving us
one. But others don’t seem to
look at it our way. Before the last
baby arrived, female relatives
and neighbors started a sympathy
campaign for my wife as if she
were the victim of some mis
fortune. I know they regard me
as thoughtless and inconsiderate.
Is there something wrong in hav
ing a family?
You kow the answer to that
question as well as I do, Al. Your
experience illustrates a peculiar
confusion, if not hypocrisy, in the
attitude of some modem Chris
tians. Let’s look at the facts. Mar
riage is a vocation designed by
God to lead men and women to
happiness and sancthy. Christ has
raised it to a sacrament, thus
making it the constant source of
supernatural strength for the
couple. It has a specific, primary
purpose which distinguishes it
from all other vocations. This
purpose is to provide for the fit
ting procreation and education of
children. Two conclusions follow.
First, husbands and wives are
privileged to cooperate in the
creative act of God by bringing
children into the world, and with
the redemptive work of Christ by
rearing members of His Mystical
Body. Second, since this is the
meaning of their vocation, they
will find happiness and sanctity
in it to the extent that they help
each other in living up to it.
This is simple Catholic doc
trine, learned and accepted by all
the faithful. There seems no good
reason to presume that your fe
male Catholic relatives and
neighbors don’t know it. Further
more, marital relations usually
form an integral part of a normal,
healthy, young couple’s life to
gether. Representing a natural
expression of conjugal love, they
are closely related to the purpose
of marriage both in terms of re
production and the fitting control
of sexuality under the conditions
of cohabitation. Hence, complete
abstinence, except for very spec
ial reasons, is neither easy nor to
be recommended for long periods.
We may presume that the normal
adult female is not unaware of
these facts of life.
Finally, it follows that under
the circumstances, the only re
maining practical alternative to
bearing children in marriage is
some form of avoiding pregnancy,
the normal outcome of marital
relations. Two general methods
are avilable. One is the use of
rhythm of periodic continence. To
be morally justified, this requires
considerable control and suffici
ent reason for using it. The other
includes the various forms of art
ificial birth control. This method
is always seriously sinful.
Now we may safely presume,
Al, that your female relatives
and neighbors are also well ac
quainted with these facts. We can
only conclude, therefore, that
when they strongly imply that
you are having too many chil
dren, or having them too rapidly,
they are either ignorant of Cath
olic doctrine and the facts of life,
or they are subtly suggesting that
you have recourse to prohibited
methods of birth control. Of
course they will pretend to be
very shocked that we should
draw implications from their act
ions, but isn’t it rather unrealistic
to suppose that at their age they
are just ignorant?
It may seem too harsh to call
them hypocrites. Perhaps they
are only extremely shallow Chris
tians. At any rate, if children are
a blessing of marriage, they
should rejoice when you are
blessed with them. If their com
ing seems a heavy burden under
some circumstances, they should
lend support and assistance as
they are able. But there" is no
excuse for treating the young
wife as an unfortunate victim
and her husband as an inconsid
erate brute. Such an attitude
offers a disturbing example of
the pervasive influence exercised
by unchristian secular thought
upon some modern Catholics.
Don’t let them upset you, Al.
This is your marriage, rich in
opportunities for happiness and
sanctity provided you follow the
Creator’s plan for it.
* * *
(It will be impossible, for Fath
er Thomas to answer personal
letters.)
The Navy’s submarine-based
Regulus provides the United
States with the ability to deliver
a missile almost anywhere in the
world.
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