Character- Lesson 9.pptxmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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1. Marriage:  Serving Life

2. Children are blessings from God. Bringing them up means hard work but the joy that they give is beyond compare. This is the message of the poem that follows.

3. The children bring us laughter, and the children bring us tears ; They string our joys, like jewels bright, upon the thread of years; They bring the bitterest cares we know, their mothers’ sharpest pain, Then smile our world to loveliness, like sunshine after rain. The children make us what we are; the childless king is spurned; The children send us to the hills where glories may be earned; For them we pledge our lives to strife, for them do mothers fade, And count in new-born loveliness their sacrifice repaid. The children bring us back to God; in eyes that dance and shine Men read from day to day the proof of love and power divine; For them are fathers brave and good and mothers fair and true, For them is every cherished dream and every deed we do. For children are the furnace fires of life kept blazing high; For children on the battle fields are soldiers pleased to die; In every place where humans toil, in every dream and plan, The laughter of the children shapes the destiny of man.

4. ACTIVITY: Direction: Answer the following questions. 1. Do you bring joy to your parents? Do you also bring them tears? Give an example when you give joy and tears to your parents. 2. What sacrifices have your parents done for you? How do you repay them for their sacrifices? 3. There is a line in the poem that says, “The children bring us back to God.” Do you bring your parents, or other people who take care of you, to God? How? 4. How does the poem show that children are God’s blessings? Cite some lines from the poem that show they are blessings from God .

5. Be Fruitful and Multiply God created mankind in His image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them . God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. God also said: See, I give you every seedbearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. God looked at everything He had made, and found it very good . Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day . Gen 1:27–31

6. God’s Gifts to Mankind God gives us many gifts. God gives us people who take care of us. He gives us nature so that we will have what we need to help us grow healthy and happy. He gives us our life and because of this life, we come to meet many people, do the things that give us joy, and show our love for others and for God. God also gives us the power to talk, move, know, taste, hear, and feel. God gives us gifts because He loves us and wants us to be happy. Truly, we have a very loving God!

7. In the story from the Book of Genesis, we see God’s gifts to humankind. These are gifts He gives out of His goodness. First, He created the man and the woman in His own image and likeness. He did not only give them life, He also gave them powers like Him—the power to know, understand, feel, and love. He also gifted the man and the woman with the power to use, in a good way, the other creations. By giving them this power, He made them responsible for His creations. Having given them life and power, God made sure that they will have a happy and healthy life so He gave them food from the plants and the creations.

8. The greatest gift that God gives to human persons is the power to cooperate in His work of creation. God made them man and woman and gave them the power to have children and raise them up. This power given to the man and the woman ensures the continuation of the human race. Through the man and the woman, the work of creation continues. Cooperating in God’s work of creation is a special gift God gives to humans and at the same time a very big responsibility.

9. Marriage and Children The poem at the beginning of the lesson talks about children. It lists down the wonderful effects of having children. While it also says that having children brings pain to the mother because it is not easy to bear children, it also gives joy to the parents. One of  the talks about children and God. It says : The children bring us back to God; in eyes that dance and shine Men read from day to day the proof of love and power divine . beautiful lines in the poem

10. These lines tell us that children are proofs that God’s divine power to create is shared with man and woman. It also means that married couples feel God’s love through the children He gives them . One of the characteristics of marriage is fruitfulness. This means that when a man and a woman get married, they must be sure are ready to face the responsibility of having children. They promise before God and the Christian community present during their marriage that they will have children and care for them. Children are truly precious fruits of marriage. This is the reason why it is said that marriage is the foundation of society. 

11. The love of the man and the woman joined together in marriage gives rise to children that they care for, educate, and bring up in the faith and love of God . The love between a man and a woman joined in marriage does not end with them. This means that the couple cannot say, “We love each other and children will lessen our love for each other.” On the contrary, when they love each other, they want to share this love not only with each other but with the children they will bring forth in the world.

12. These children they bring into the world, care for, and educate will then become future citizens of society who will help in its development. They will also become members of the Church who will help in its growth. Having children then is a gift of God not only to the man and woman joined in marriage but to the Church as well.

13. When they become parents, spouses receive from God the gift of a new responsibility. Their parental love is called to become for the children the visible sign of the very love of God, “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”

14. St. Monica Marriage is a gift from God that must be taken care of by both husband and wife. For it to be a sign of Jesus’ love for His Church, couples must pray together and pray for  each other always. Sadly, this is true in Monica’s family. She was married to a man who did not believe in God. He was also violent. But one positive trait that he had was his love for her.

15. Monica and her husband had three children. The eldest of whom is Augustine. Sadly, Augustine led a very sinful life spending his time drinking, partying, and doing many other actions that made Monica very sad. But Monica did not stop praying. She prayed all the time for her husband and her son, Augustine. God heard her prayers and soon her husband and her son were converted. Not only was Augustine converted, he also became one of the greatest saints in the Church . Augustine, the fruit of the marriage of Monica and her husband, became a faithful member and defender of the Church. Thanks to the faith of her mother Monica who also became a saint.