the bitter pill

Afternoon at the Chateau.
A newly commissioned Padre who is a relative of mine, is trying to convey the Catholic Church's teaching about the sanctity of life, to some of my trendier more stylish relatives.
He is gently suggesting that contraceptives have no place in God's plan for humanity.
I am a bit surprised because he is a trendy fellow himself.
He was the wildest of us before he had his Christian conversion.
And anyway most Padres tend to stay quiet about the teaching on contraception.
So yes I'm surprised.
The stylish young women are laughing at merrily at the Padre's earnest efforts to reach them.
Then the Padre says:
"Well which members of our family would you prefer not to have existed? Uncle Bernard seems to have made quite a difference to quite a few lives, doesn't he. He was number nine in his family. With contraceptives he's not around and neither are any of you who happen to be his children. And your cousin Doctor Barn is a bit of a living legend isn't he? Nice fellow. Have you noticed? I'm fond of him. I mean I'm glad he's alive. He was number six on our family. The youngest. With contraception neither of those would have been around. Personally, I'd have missed them. Neither would your mother my Aunty Mary. I think she was number eight in her family. Think of the lives she's touched. Not just yours. But the school kids she taught. And the reaching out she did to special needs kids. And all the stuff none of us know about but only suspect..."
And for the first time in thirty years gentle travellers of the internet, I saw a look of confusion course across the vivacious confident features of the young and the restless.