On the Beauty of a Large Family

I have often thought about those things that make having a large family so beautiful. I remember I was working in Boston in the corporate world and an older manager and I were having a conversation about children and he said in so many words, don't have a large family for if you do expect to be poor. I never was interested in the pursuit of wealth, so I did not heed his advice.

In a large family you have the structure in place to fully learn about life; person relationships, successes and failures, tragedy, group support, competition, sharing, intimacy, and sacrifice. I believe that it is in the context of the family that these experiences are best gained. It does not guarantee that one would learn and grow from them. In my own case my mother was always pitting one sibling against the other. In this struggle for parental recognition, I sought attention to myself.

This desire to prove that I was better has come to light in living as Christ wants us. Jesus said "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." God has revealed this to me in many situations. First it is the humility of Christ that I so admire. "He humbled Himself" "was obedient to death, even death on a cross," and as I have come across those in the religious life, devout laity and of course priests, it has become obvious to me that I lack their humility.

God has also blessed me with a wonderful family and I have witnessed in the beauty of my wife and children, their humility, so what was originally lacking has been restored. Society and the world has renounce the large family for pursuit of material treasure but the real treasure is in the life of the family. It has been for me