Paul was the spiritual father of the Corinthian Christians. He begot them through the preaching of the gospel (1 Cor 4:15). He was also the spiritual father of Onesimus (Phlm 10) and Timothy (1 Tm 1:2; 2 Tm 1:2). Peter was the spiritual father of John Mark (1 Pt 5:13), and Mary was chosen by Jesus on Calvary to be the spiritual mother of the beloved disciple and of all disciples (Jn 19:26). We all are called to spiritually beget many children by sharing the gospel.

Are you willing to be fertile and multiply spiritually? (see Gn 1:28) To conceive, birth, and disciple your spiritual children, you must suffer. You must become like a person "doomed to die in the arena" (1 Cor 4:9). To give life spiritually, you must die to self. This means becoming a fool on Christ's account — weak, sneered at, "hungry and thirsty, poorly clad, roughly treated, wandering about homeless" (1 Cor 4:10-11). The labor you must endure to give spiritual birth often is working hard at manual labor, suffering persecution, and being slandered (1 Cor 4:12-13).

To give life we must love, and that means laying down our lives for one another (1 Jn 3:16). Therefore, we are tempted to be spiritually contraceptive and abortifacient. We are tempted to choose death rather than life (Dt 30:19-20). However, we must reject the "culture of death" and choose life to the full (Jn 10:10) by choosing to love, even to death.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert J. Buschmiller, January 29, 1996

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 5, 1996