We are called to be humble; we must know that all we have comes from the Lord.
The Lord gave us such wonderful and intricate things! Look at how the environment keeps itself in balance with the animals of the sea and air eating each other but through the food chain always staying in balance. Their decomposing bodies provide nourishment to the trees and plants, which in turn provide clean air and nourishment for our bodies. The many tiny microscopic particles in the plants and trees science is discovering are designed to fill voids in our own needs. We must respect nature and be good stewards of it. We must realize in awe that it all comes from the Lord.
How much more so are we blessed than the trees and plants and birds and fish to be made in the Lord’s very image and likeness!! Our bodies house our souls–whose origin and destination is the Lord. We are obligated to give the Lord the respect he is due by protecting our bodies. Our children are amazing MIRACLES of life. The very image and likeness of God is growing in your womb! You are responsible for protecting this little one, nourishing her, and raising her to respect the Lord and his creation. To realize the awesomeness of all that God has given us and fall down in adoration before him for how abundantly we are blessed is true humility.
Along with these blessings come responsibilities. We have a responsibility to protect our children and raise them up right. To protect our bodies from harm. To never deny our Lord and Savior or turn our backs on his teachings. To protect the institutions of the church. To honor the sacraments. To not allow them to be defiled. We are each of us to be vigilant that the Eucharist is not taken during communion to be possibly used in an abusive manner. The same is true of the other sacraments. The Lord is not to be defiled in Communion, why would he allow himself to be trampled on in Holy Matrimony? (Ever heard of the book Three To Get Married? This isn’t just between the two of you.) A husband has a responsibility to love his wife as Christ loved his church. Christ gave everything he had, right down to his last breath, for us his church. He lived for us! He died for us! This is the model he provided for Holy Matrimony and the obligation that husbands have to their wives. His death, an innocent death for OUR sins, was something no one else could do for us all. We must realize with true humility the price he paid when he died on the cross.
Humility does not expect you to allow yourself, your marriage, or your child to be abused, though. As a matter of fact, a true reverence for God’s creation forbids it. You are not obligated in “humility” to subjugate yourself and your precious baby to the drunken tyranny of a man who refuses to follow Christ’s lead. Sure, he might not have been the best choice of husbands afterall, and if your marriage is a valid one you’ll have to live with that decision by not re-marrying. But it doesn’t mean YOU have to take responsibility for HIS sins. We each have free choice, him as much as anyone else. Do you want your little one to suffer so grievously for the sins of his father? You have a responsibility to teach this child about the RESPECT God’s creation deserves. That includes the Sacraments. That includes nature. That includes YOU.
