Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

Tricia and I spent the evening with a great group of young adults this evening. The local FOCUS group invited us over for dinner and discussions afterward. They are inspiring to me because of their abandonment to God’s will. They have all recently completed college and donated a couple of years of their lives (at least) to help with the new evangelization. They are helping kids on campuses around the country to recognize and more fully live their Catholic faith. One young lady actually gave up a medical school slot to do this. She is applying again to go when she finishes her mission “tour.”

Any way, I guess that I have not taught any sort of class in a while, unusual for me. Not unusual is my taking it out on these poor people. I went into lecture mode, kind of, and what else, shared my dissertation on John Paul the Great’s theology of Fatherhood. This teaching  together with something another person said about their missionary work as spiritual replication, brought to mind a significant point John Paul makes.

I have mentioned previously the constitutiveness of our sex for our personhood. John Paul says that, fundamentally, all men are created to be fathers and women to be mothers. Our vocation in this regard is also our uniqueness, in the end. Even if we do not become biological parents, we still are called to be fruitful and multiply others as spiritual children in Christ. Teachers do this by begetting spiritual children in an intellectual manner. But they and everyone else are called to live a life of holy witness such that others see and live the truth because of their example. We are charged with giving others less spiritually mature than we the benefit of our journey and acquired wisdom (even if we do not particularly see ourselves has having much of the latter). Spiritual parenthood is not optional. It is something that everyone is called to. It is an important way that we give ourselves to others which in return completes and fulfills us. God will judge us individually, but he saves us together. That is the reason He created a Church. We are called to grow in love and holiness as a family. One need not go on like I often do, Blah, Blah, Blah Blah, Blah. . . but spiritual parturition is still an essential part of authentic, mature, personhood.

Whether God has blessed you with biological children or not, perhaps it is time to start looking for the opportunities God is putting before you to be the medium by which someone else will be saved and sanctified.