“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” Genesis 1:28.
After God banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He gives them this commandment: “be fruitful and multiply.” Even though they have severed their ties from the Lord, husband and wife are given their primary task in marriage. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage has two great purposes. One, for spouses to help each other get to Heaven. Two, for the procreation and education of children.
Children and marriage are inseparable, even for those burdened with infertility. The prayers of the nuptial Mass demonstrate the role of children in marriage. So many of them focus on the blessing of children and responsibility of husband and wife to them.
The Harmony of Parenthood.
In some capacity, every one of us is called to be a mother or a father. Even priests and nuns fulfill very parental-like roles in their communities. They care for those around them in the self-serving way a mother or father does for their children.
When God gave Adam and Eve the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, He gave them domain over the earth. He gave humans permission to fill it. As Mother Teresa said, “How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.”
So many people today are plagued with the idea that they cannot handle children. Whether in their first year of marriage or their tenth, too many couples are discouraged from procreation for one reason or another. But God did not tell us to be afraid. He did not tell us to temper the blessings of multiplication. The Lord did not say to fear our fruitfulness. He said to have domain over the earth.
Simon of Cyrene.
Infertility is a terrible cross to be asked to bear, but God does not curse us to be broken. He asks us to help carry others’ crosses like Simon of Cyrene. That cross may look like adoption, or special friendship, or fostering, or support for other parents. Nine children at my parish have homes because two beautiful couples said yes to the cross of adoption. I’ve known a woman who fostered hundreds of newborns (a new one every week) while they waited for adoption parents to arrive to pick them up. When God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply, He did not curse or look down on those He lays the cross of infertility on. He gave them a different avenue to fruitfulness.
We are not made with the spirit of fear. Instead, we are made in the image and likeness of God. God was fruitful. He multiplied His good. We don’t need to fear doing the same.
