Welcome and develop the child

There are organizations in the world today, supported by rich and powerful people, who are focused on abortion and other means of limiting the number of children who come into the world, especially among those who are not members of the elite classes.

Today’s Gospel (Luke 2:22-40) gives us a different perspective: a child that is welcomed.

Welcoming, of course, is not enough: the child must not only be welcomed but also enabled to develop. This too we see in the last verse of the long form of today’s Gospel:

The child grew and became strong,
filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

The Gospel, of course, is speaking of only one child - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – but every child coming into the world deserves to be welcomed and given everything he or she needs to develop.

This task belongs primarily to the parents, but also in different ways to the rest of the family and indeed the rest of society.

May we always seek the wisdom, strength and favor of God to accept and raise well the children among us. Thus they may never be seen as a burden but as a gift, a blessing, and a resource that benefits us all.