Hear it here: Americans want more kids

This week I spoke with Morning Air’s John Morales about the recent Gallup poll showing Americans are increasingly idealizing large families, despite our national birth rate remaining low. You can listen to the audio here, starting at 32:58.

As I shared there, despite reality not matching the ideal, it’s still a hopeful sign that Americans are viewing having 3+ children as a positive thing. I believe it is driven by many factors, including the incredible isolation of the past few years throwing into great relief the need for relationships, starting with family.

So what does it take to make the ideal match the reality? As always, it takes a culture of life. Steep hill, I know. But in the meantime Catholics can at least live their own family lives in a way that is functional, positive, and life-giving. I make the comment in the interview that Catholics should involve their kids in all aspects of their public lives, including bringing them to church. Similarly, you may sometimes hear the unrestrained, joyful or otherwise, sounds of children at Mass, or even of a person with intellectual disabilities. They belong to a family, and they have a right to be there, or a restaurant, or wherever. Act like it! And in the meantime, pray the economy improves so it ain’t so hard to have kids (among other things).

Here’s that interview. Enjoy!

Americans want larger families

Tomorrow morning I’ll be on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air program to talk about a recent Gallup poll that showed Americans increasingly want larger families, in the form of three-plus children. Isn’t that something! It’s certainly a sign of hope.

However, in practice, Americans are continuing to have few, or no, children. Why is this? My take is that there a few reasons, including the cost of living which makes having a family difficult. Additionally, marriage ain’t what it used to be, and if fewer marriages are happening, most likely so are fewer children.

Catholics have an opportunity here. We know the trope about Catholics having large families isn’t always true anymore. But whether you have 11 kids or 1 child, if you’re Catholic, you know what we believe about the beauty and sanctity of the family and have the opportunity to live that, and be a sign of hope.

These are the things we’ll be discussing tomorrow. Tune in online, find your radio station, or listen in the app at 8:40 am eastern.

Jonah, the gourd, and losing

Given that today’s first reading is the amusing and relatable story of Jonah and the gourd plant, I am re-sharing something I wrote in 2019, “‘The Art of Losing’ is About Trusting God.”

Every time this passage comes up throughout the years, I can’t help but pay attention. Jonah is such a strange ambassador for God to choose; he seems unpleasant, unlikeable, and actually really doesn’t like that God takes mercy on Nineveh. The perceived slight, combined with the demise of the shade provided by a gourd plant, is enough to make him “angry enough to die.” Yikes.

As I outline in the article, there are many things that draw me in, including when God says, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise…” How humbling. It is a response we should remember when we lose the things we did not ourselves earn - or even that we did earn - in recognition that all is actually God’s, anyway. It will all, always, go back to Him.

So anyway, have a read. And try not to judge Jonah too harshly, because we may be more like him than we would at first guess.