I studied forestry in college. My colleagues clearly understood the delicate balance of a natural ecosystem. Artificially altering even part of an ecosystem threatens the health of the whole forest. For example, when a river is dammed, its life-giving flow is blocked. Above and below the dam, plant and animal life and critical habitat are altered, often catastrophically. Despite this knowledge, my colleagues ardently supported zero population growth. They favored limiting human reproduction through artificial contraception or sterilization. They reasoned that humans ruin natural ecosystems faster than anything else, and thus God's beautiful ecosystem of human procreation should be dammed.
Almighty God has a divine ecology and economy that brings all His creation into unity with the perfect unity of the Holy Trinity (Catechism, 260). All creation interacts harmoniously when subject to His beautiful order. God pours out His superabundant, overflowing river of love to all humanity, trying to allure us back into His loving order (Rm 5:5; Hos 2:16). As my forestry colleagues instinctively realized, it's the human beings that block the divine ecology. Just as a husband and wife utilize contraceptive barriers to limit or block their reproductive powers, we build dams and walls to try to control or block His love. What follows is a catastrophe: divorce, depression, loss of faith, disobedience, and devastation left behind for the next generation.
Are you swamped? Are you struggling to keep your head above water? Repent of blocking God's order. Blow up the dam! Let the fresh, flowing water of the Holy Spirit restore God's refreshing harmony to your life (Jn 7:37).
| PRAYER: | Father, it's only a small step from dammed to damned. Let Your river of everlasting life flow through me (Ez 47:8ff). |
| PROMISE: | "Your faith has restored you to health." –Mt 9:22 |
| PRAISE: | Mary and Tom did not block God's grace through artificial contraception and were blessed with ten children. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College