“BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, AND FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT” (Gen 1:28)

⏰Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time 1 (07 Feb 2017)

????Gen 1:20 – 2:4a; Ps 8:4-5, 6-7a, 7b-9 (R.v.2ab); Mark 7:1-13

“BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, AND FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT” (Gen 1:28)

Have you ever taken a closer evaluation of the particulars of the accounts of the creation of different kinds of living creatures (Gen 1:20-25) and man (Gen 1:26-28)? Both of them came with a blessing from God, “Be fruitful and multiply.” But there is a difference in the instruction that followed that blessing. That of other living creatures ended with filling the waters and the earth but man was given a further instruction, “Subdue it!”

Subduing the earth means to take charge of it. A Latin adage says, “No one gives what he does not have.” Hence, formation is very important in human life. Man must be formed to be able to take charge.

Therefore, parents and intending parents must know this. It is not just enough to acknowledge that God gives children and so they can be as many as God wants to give. The same God also makes provision for the education and training of those children. So God is going to judge us on how we were able to form those he placed under us.

A proper home training can contribute tremendously to the kind of life our children live outside the home. That means that a proper home training can remedy the ills evident in the society. Can we not train up our children to be learned in the real things that matter for God as Jesus taught the Pharisees (Mark 7:1-13).

May God make our families real homes where holy men and women are bred for God. And may God make you fruitful in all that you do through Christ our Lord. Amen.

I wish you a glorious day ahead. Peace be with you.