“Look how numerous and powerful the people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase.”
Powerful words of war there … voiced in today’s first reading from Exodus by the new king of Egypt who fears the families – big, strong, plentiful – of the Hebrew people living within his borders.
This sets the stage for so many horrible things – the killing of young boys, the rape of young girls, the enslavement of entire families, the attempt to wipe out a culture. Fortunately, this ends well thanks to Moses who listens to God and opens his heart to do his will.
But let’s take a closer look at what Egypt attempted to do.
“Stop their increase.”
In some circles, particularly in the “enlightened” western cultures and in a few Communist countries, those who wish to have a large family continue to be ridiculed and held up as a “drain” on the environment. They are criticized by some. Painfully rejected by others.
I come from a family of 6. My sister and her husband have 9 children. I have friends with 8, 9, 10 kids. Most are Catholic, but some are not. Some are Muslim. Others are Jewish. There is virtue in helping to populate the world with children. They are our future, after all.
And yet we live in a world where “population control” is encouraged by many; leading to some decisions that tend to backfire. I see the headlines from some countries (Australia comes to mind) where years of a contraceptive mentality of fear suddenly has demographers worried about a future where there are not enough children being raised to carry on with society. Now they are in reverse mode, offering incentives for young families to have more children.
We also see the disaster of countries that limit families to a mandatory one or two children – cultures which also happen to place a much higher value on boys – leading desperate parents to abort their baby girls. Now we have a country filled with young men and not enough women.
An imbalance.
No doubt there are many couples who struggle to have large families. Some struggle just to have one child. Many choose to fill their homes by adoption. And there are others who choose the route of spending their time, talent and treasure helping extended family and the community in a more fulfilling way. All deserve our love and respect.
But I digress … the topic of this reflection is not so much about how some cultures seem to kill themselves off in the fear of overpopulation, but about how the Hebrews in the time of Moses stuck to their guns and never gave in to the persecution they faced.
Such a brave people. Still around today. Still persecuted and still brave. Still our brothers and sisters in our shared faith of One God. Never forget that … please.
Consider how they survived as slaves for so many years. (If you don’t know this story, watch the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston).
Yes, the Hebrews survived. God’s chosen people. They continued to have children, despite their slavery and poverty. They continued to place their faith in a God they had never seen. And finally, after the frogs, gnats, bloody waters and pestilence – so many plagues and such bloodshed – they were set free.
I pray that our young generation today – not just Catholics, Jews and Muslims, but all peoples – will continue to be open to God’s will and continue to care for the Earth by filling it with children.
If you are reading this today, I’m pretty sure you, like me, were once in the womb, a child, nurtured by your mother and loved by God. We haven’t had a perfect life – but who does?
We have survived.
Despite our flaws and our weaknesses, we have contributed in our own unique way toward a better world – a world that is better off, thanks to us.
Why would we want to deprive the next generation of that chance? Why live in fear?
