Faithful Citizenship in Pa's 1st Congressional District and the Central Garden State: "The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships" (Pope Paul VI).

Saturday, July 19, 2014

"The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships" (Pope Paul VI).

With tomorrow being the start of the USCCB's annual Natural Family Planning Awareness (NFP) Week (July 20 - July 26, 2014), there is an especially timely teachable moment for the great news of Natural Family Planning - a pro life / pro marriage alternative to the death-dealing poisons of the Culture of Death.

"This week highlights the promotion of NFP and the Church’s teachings on human sexuality, married love and responsible parenthood. These dates correspond with the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25), and the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Mother....

"[NFP] is a modern method for couples to monitor their fertility signs utilizing charts and scientific knowledge. It can help couples plan their families responsibly in accordance with the truth of how God has made them.

"The name 'Natural Family Planning' is somewhat of a misnomer because although it is a natural (i.e., not artificial) way of keeping track of fertility, it is not always utilized as a method of family planning. Some choose to use it as a way to be aware of their fertility, for health reasons or to help in conceiving. This fertility awareness can be learned through NFP classes, and by charting the wife’s monthly fertility signs. Fertility awareness/NFP has many benefits, including understanding one’s body better, not harming one’s body with contraceptive chemicals, and speaking a 'language of the body' imbued with love and truth, by not putting artificial barriers between spouses....

"An especially valuable benefit of NFP is that it can help one grow in one’s faith. This can happen in many ways. The NFP-practicing couple understands firsthand the wonder of fertility-the beauty of the wife’s cycles and that the spouses’ bodies are made for one another, and for procreation, by God.

"The NFP couple also perceives the importance of sacrificial love and self-control, since they work in conjunction with the body’s cycles and practice abstinence when necessary out of love for the other person. This sets up a pattern of both self-mastery and self-giving love that overflows into other areas of their lives, which brings them closer to an understanding of God’s sacrificial love for us.

"Many couples find that learning NFP helps them to appreciate that fertility and children are gifts from God. By living in accord with respect for their bodies, and by praying during each cycle for God’s will with regard to conceiving a child, they foster a willingness to trust in the Lord’s providence and a respect for the dignity of human life. They place their fertility in God’s hands, and live each day in accord with how God has created them. This brings the couple closer to each other and to God.

"NFP also allows the couple to speak a language of truth and love with their bodies. The spouses give themselves to each other totally and without reserve. This 'language of the body' of total self-gift is in accord with the desires of the human heart to give oneself to another fully, and to receive another in fullness. It speaks of total commitment, openness to a future together, and complete acceptance of the other....

"To learn more about NFP, or to register for an NFP class, call the Family Life Office...or visit their NFP webpage....

"I encourage you...to learn more about NFP..., and to support the Church’s mission to evangelize marriage and family" (Justin Cardinal Rigali, 7/22/10).

The first email to faithfulinthe 8th@gmail.com, noting a Philly/Trenton homily this weekend which addresses NFP, wins a free NaPro Technology presentation for her/his parish!

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