“They were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to
teach them many things.” Jesus easily slips into this role because he is the Good
Shepherd. A good shepherd is always kind and supportive. And a good shepherd brings members of the flock to the truth
when they get off course. This is what Jesus did for people in his time. Then there are countless times when he tries to get the
Pharisees back on track when their ideas take them off course.
We just heard in our first reading from Jeremiah: Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my
pasture… Who are the bad shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock? Anyone who goes against Christ and the teachings of the
Church he founded.
Our modern day culture misleads and scatters the flock in countless
ways. Pope Francis calls it a throw-away culture. Pope Saint John Paul II called it a culture of death. The culture of death has many symptoms.
In order to fight against some of the symptoms of the
culture of death, the Church gives us Natural Family Planning Awareness Week in
the week ahead. The culture of death promotes things like artificial
contraception or sterilization as a “fix” to the “problem” of fertility. The Church reminds of that those things are beneath our
dignity. We are beautifully, wonderfully made in God’s image. We are made for more. Our bodies need understanding, not chemicals and alterations
to healthy organs that function as they should.
Does a good shepherd ignore these so he doesn’t have to
unpack the difficult issues? Or does a good shepherd point out the problems with
artificial contraception destroying families? Woe to me the shepherd if I mislead the flock. Sure, NFP isn’t for everyone. But we all need to know about it so we can share it with
people who are misled by the lies of the culture. Yes contraception is a problem because it’s unhealthy for
the human body, but it’s especially problematic because of the harm it can do
to relationships.
We are made for lasting relationships.
Simple biology shows us the conjugal embrace has two
meanings, procreative and unitive. It’s procreative because it’s God’s way of bringing new
human life into the world. And it’s unitive because it’s God’s way of bonding a man and
woman in married love for the rest of their lives. Powerful bonding hormones are activated. People who are open to both the unitive and procreative
meanings of the conjugal embrace are presumably giving themselves fully to each
other. Ideally, there is a full self-giving for the benefit of the
other.
Sounds like love, doesn’t it… Nothing is held back, not even one’s fertility.
When a barrier is placed in the way, there is no longer a
full self-giving. Now something is held back. We would never say to a spouse, “I love you except for your fertility. Hold back that part of you. I’m not interested
in all of you.” So we shouldn’t say it in our actions either.
So we see that diminishing the procreative meaning can
easily diminish the unitive meaning of the conjugal embrace as well. Imposing barriers in this most intimate of settings can
quite often manifest itself in emotional ways too. If the physical barriers are in the way, it becomes easier
to put up emotional barriers or communication barriers as well.
As human beings, we are designed to have a very powerful
unitive bond, but we can do things to diminish it. The worst thing about contraception and sterilization is
that they reject God’s design and his plan for our happiness. Furthermore the contraceptive mentality feeds the despair of
the culture that life is not worth living. But life is worth living.
NFP or Natural Family Planning keeps the unitive and
procreative meanings of the conjugal embrace intact while effectively helping
married couples space children if they need to for grave reasons. NFP is more effective than contraception but without the
destructive side-effects. And it has proven to enhance marital love rather than
diminish it. It forces the husband and wife to communicate, thus building
their relationship, rather than taking the risk of using the other for selfish
reasons.
47 years ago Pope Paul VI predicted what would happen if the
use of contraception became widespread. He was correct on every prediction. Divorce rates would increase. They have: from 6% in 1960 to more than 50% now. Disrespect of women would increase. Men would become more irresponsible. Marital infidelity would increase. There would be a general lowering of morality.
As Christians, we are called to trust completely in the
Lord. If we look around, we see that those who seem open to his
plan for their lives also seem to be the happiest. Our culture tells us that one way will bring happiness. But Christ proves that his way of self-giving love is what really
brings happiness and lasting joy.
Those with little regard of Natural Law reasoning or
morality are forcing upon the American people a contraceptive mentality. Our own federal government, which has coercive power over
its citizens, is forcing almost all employers to literally buy into the
contraceptive mentality that destroys families, the building blocks of society.
Just this past week, the Little Sisters of the Poor lost a
court case that says they have to provide these things and abortion-inducing
drugs to their employees. The sisters are not allowed to live out the convictions of
their faith.
NFP Awareness Week is not about condemnation. It’s an invitation for us to learn God’s plan for authentic happiness. It’s an invitation to learn what the Church teaches and why. Then we can bring the good news of the Gospel of Life to the
world. We all know people who need to learn it as well. Let’s have the courage to trust in the Lord and invite
others to the happiness that only He can bring.
