And it will take more than the family to overcome the forces that wage war against it. But how we go about overcoming pharaoh is crucial if we are to be a people of faith. What is instructive about the story of the midwives is that it offers a novel, new model of heroism based on intelligence and compassion rather than violence. The reason why the midwives defied the king was not because they hated the king, and not because they sided with the Hebrews. The reason why they did what they did was because they feared God, and the way they feared God was in honoring their calling as midwives, as bearers of life.
Today marks the beginning of another academic year.
And parents, as you let go of your sons and daughters, you too must put your faith in others to provide an environment that will bring them more completely into adulthood. If ever there is a time when parental self-sufficiency must yield to a humble acknowledgement of limitation, it is at this particular cross road. It is a time to both celebrate and mourn. It is a time of travail, but also a time of birth, of young life coming into its own, of potential seeking a purpose and a destiny. Campus ministry, I believe, is here to assist these young men and women who are in search of their spiritual and vocational destinies.