Archbishop reminds mothers that children are always a gift from God

San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 10, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Marking the celebration of Mother’s Day, Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez of San Juan Puerto Rico, reminded mothers that “a baby is always a gift from God,” and he thanked God for “women who have accepted the challenge to be mothers.”

In his Sunday homily, Archbishop Gonzalez condemned abortion and, in reference to its legality, recalled that “what is legal is not necessarily morally acceptable.”

“A baby is always a gift from God.  Life is a gift from God.  I would not like to think that someone might have an abortion because of economic difficulties.  We have a saying here in Puerto Rico: ‘Where two can eat so can three’,” said the Archbishop, adding that during the celebration of Mother’s Day, “we give thanks to God and to the women who have accepted the challenge of being mothers.”

Archbishop Gonzalez reiterated the Archdiocese’s offer that any woman who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy and is considering abortion, to approach the Archdiocese of San Juan and receive all of the economic, emotional, psychological and spiritual support necessary to carry the baby to term.

During his homily the Archbishop expressed thanks to God for “the presence of mothers in our world--an irreplaceable presence.  Each human being has the right to enjoy the love of his or her mother and to grow up beneath her shadow,” he added.

Likewise, Archbishop Gonzalez acknowledged the desire of Puerto Rican families to increase their standard of living, but he emphasized that economic limitations are not an impediment to faithfully fulfilling the vocation to motherhood or fatherhood.

“Poverty, as such, does not impede a women’s fulfillment as mother.  In fact, the vast majority of us were born in the context of relative poverty.  Therefore, I don’t think that poverty is the main problem, although we must work to overcome it,” he explained.