Maybe you've not heard that this week is Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week. This is an educational campaign of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Posted above is a poster from the campaign.
One of the links on this page that is worth your time to explore is under the "What is NFP" section. You can go to that page directly from here. And it should be noted that NFP is not the "rhythm method."
Also, if you have not read your Columbia magazine for this month of July, please key in on two articles there:
The first article, called "Open to Life," describes a Catholic couple who are probably not unlike many of you as it pertained to having children and reconciling the Church's teaching on the transmission of life with the culture's "easy" solution of the various forms of contraception. This article is on line and can be read here.
The second is called "The Pill, Health and Society." This is an interview with a physician and Brother Knight and he discusses the effects of the birth-control pill on women's bodies and our culture at large.
Whether you have no children or have great-grandchildren, it is worth every Catholic's time to understand the Church's teaching and that there is a better way than to follow along with the culture on the question of contraception. Paul VI wrote Humane Vitae that directly confronted the question of whether or not contraception could be permitted. It is not difficult to read as some of you may fear. The words of the encyclical are prophetic and, contrary to the many nay-sayers in our culture who beat the drum that the Church makes rules and just wants to tell us "no," this encyclical provides the beautiful "yes" that shows us how to be open to life and to God's plan for us. God's plan may not be the easy one. It calls for faith and trust. It is the one that will ultimately make us happier here on earth and, hopefully, in our eternal life.
As we read and reflect on these articles and teachings we should ask God to help us understand this teaching, which is a difficult one for many of us.
