Commentary on the Instrumentum Laboris: the spouses Humberto Díaz and Isabel Botía on Chapter IV of Part III
Humberto Díaz and Isabel Botía, members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, offer us their reflection on Chapter IV of Part III of the Instrumentum Laboris, which addresses the theme of "The Family, Procreation and Upbringing."
Serving life, transmitting it and protecting it—they write—are acts that naturally derive from the deep reality of conjugal love. Being a family means being open and ready to welcome life, to defend it and to educate future generations to believe in it. "Spouses who have assumed the responsibility of procreation and have enjoyed the experience of building a family are called to show the world that it is worth having children, that it is beautiful to give well educated children to society and to the Church, and that there is no reason to be afraid." Being at the service of life for a family, moreover, not only means being open to the mystery of procreation, but this can also take the form of lovingly receiving children who are victims of neglect, hunger, in need of love and care, so that the encounter with adoptive parents can lead them back to life." Adoption—says the couple—becomes a kind of challenge, a special form of family apostolate and an expression of the fruitfulness of the conjugal experience, not only when it is marked by infertility." God always has a project of love for the reality of the family. The secret is learning to have confidence in it, because, they say, the future of our society depends on it.