I just came upon an excellent quote from Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD in an article, but I can't find the original source. Pacholczyk says, like I have been saying on this blog, that procreation includes not just fertilization but “the entire act of marital self-giving with its attendant pregnancy, leading up to and culminating in the birth of a child.”
Right! I need to read more from Fr. Pacholczyk. This is the first time I have heard anyone other than myself contradict the currently popular belief that procreation (conception, the creation of life) occurs specifically at the scientifically definable event called "fertilization."
If anyone can tell me where this quote comes from, or can point me to the best writings of Pacholczyk, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
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Here are some of his writings: http://www.ncbcenter.org/page.aspx?pid=249
Given that the maternal oocyte develops within two weeks of fertilization, it could be argued that, maternally, part of who we become develops already in our GRANDMOTHER. Yes, the egg that became you, in your Granny.
Good Point, Rev. Baker.
In the concluding paragraph of his Feb. 2012 article, Nickles, Dimes and Family Size, Pacholczyk writes:
"I recall hearing about another family that had six children. They didn’t have two nickels to rub together. After the father came down with mental illness, the mother had to support the family single-handedly. A clear-thinking woman with an unflinching faith, now elderly and reflecting on her past, she memorably remarked to her neighbor: “I’ve never seen the Lord send a child without also sending a lunch pail.” God, who is the very source of the immortal souls of our children, is a provident God who invites us to examine the heart of our marriages. He invites us to entrust ourselves to him, so that we might be courageous and authentically open to the gift of life he sends us in the midst of the marital embrace."
Similarly, a 96 year old retired (and very fruitful) physician told me that his grandmother always said that "every baby comes with a loaf of bread tucked under its arm."
Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.
Found this while googling Pacholczyk published materials
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0166.htm
Thanks, Daniel!
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