On July 25 the Church celebrated the 46th anniversary
of Humanae Vitae, the encyclical written by Pope Paul VI which re-affirmed the
Church’s teaching against abortion and contraception and upheld the Church’s
defense of the sanctity of marriage. Before anyone is tempted to quit reading due to a belief that no Catholic female in her right mind would not contracept after marriage, read this please! Humanae vitae is not very long, but it is prophetic, so if you haven’t read it,just do so!.
The Church reminds us that for love to be real and truthful, it must be
free, total, faithful, and fruitful (FTFF).
Jesus is the faultless
model of free, total, faithful, and fruitful love. At Calgary we see that Jesus
gave up His life for us freely, a total gift of Himself in perfect fidelity to
His Heavenly Father and to us. His death on the Cross was and is perfectly
fruitful, because it redeems us from our sins and gains for us eternal life.
In Catholic teaching married life must be
free, total, faithful, and fruitful. When it is, it is a perfect image of
Christ’s love for us. SO-FTFF is the key to understanding why the Church teaches that contraception oppose God’s plan. When husband and wife use artificial contraception, the barrier that they place
between them and the fear of pregnancy prevents them from loving freely and
from making a total gift of themselves. In reality they say one to the other, “I give
you everything…except my fertility”.
And certainly, a couple using birth control cannot be fruitful. We do not pick
grapes from thorns.
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