Birth Control from God's Perspective

(There are several different ways to look at why contraception is wrong. We will look at how it is opposed to each of the three Persons of the Trinity.)

I.  Contraception and the Word of God (Jesus)

a.     "Mysterion" and "sacramentum" are the biblical words for Sacrament in Greek and Latin

b.    Eph 5: "He gave Himself up for her… and this refers to Christ and the Church." (Eph 5:31-32)

c.     Christ's love for the Church demonstrated on the cross is a gift of self that is full, free, faithful, fruitful

(Vatican II also said, "Man can only find himself in a disinterested giving of self." Gaudium et Spes 24)

d.    This is the bond of a sacramental marriage, which images Christ's love by being a gift of self that is ffff.

e.     Sex is what makes marriage "sacramental": a sacrament is the visible sign of an invisible reality

f.      Contraception (including the Pill, condoms, the IUD, patches, withdrawal, etc.) turns this picture inside out by its destruction of the love that is characterized by being a gift of self that is ffff

II.             Contraception and the Holy Spirit

a.     The Holy Spirit is the fruit of Jesus' death; "And He handed over His Spirit…" (Jn 19:30) is the precursor of Pentecost

b.    The Holy Spirit is the cause of our becoming the Children of God, further fruits of Jesus' death

c.     He is also (as Catholics profess to believe in the ancient creed of Nicaea) "the Lord and Giver of Life": He leaves more fruit in His wake

d.    The Holy Spirit is what unites Christ and the Church, and thus married people

e.     Contraception is an action by which people say no to the Lord of Life either by denying His Lordship (I will arbitrate over how life comes about) or by denying His Life (I will decide who receives life and who does not)

III.          Contraception and the Will of the Father

a.     God has made us in His image

b.    He desires for us to find ultimate happiness

c.     This happiness is only possible for us when we live in accord with the way He made us, which is in His image (when we live in accord with reality, we find happiness, if we deny it, i.e. gravity, we do not)

d.    He has shown us the Way through Jesus: "Jesus Christ fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear" (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes 22)

e.     When we truly love one another as He has loved us, we find happiness (remember how Jesus loved us according to the four F's)

f.      This love is one that is truly free through virtue: without virtue we are not free to love because we can't, it is beyond our ability without virtue (i.e. a golfer)

g.     Contraception makes us less free by making us slaves to our passion, dependant on things, rather than on our own self mastery. It mutilates us, making us incapable (IN CONTRACEPTED SEX) of the kind of love God has made us for: a love that is life giving and self sacrificing as we saw from Jesus on the cross

h.    This kind of love is the only thing that will truly make us happy: this is why we long for it so much

IV.          The Difference Between Contraception and NFP

a.     What is NFP (for a good explanation visit ccli.org)

b.    The difference between means and ends

c.     Both have a good end: the responsible regulation of births

d.    They have radically different means (i.e. giving money to nuns)

e.     "You can tell a tree by its fruits" (Mt 12:33)

i.                The fruits of contraception were anticipated by many (see quotes section): adultery and non-marital sex, divorce (and its resultant poverty), degradation of women (who are now treated like sex toys), abuse, the acceptance of homosexual unions as "marriages" (through the severing the link between love and fruit), abortion (as a means to eliminate the unwanted pregnancies that can still result from contracepted sex), and the inability to love which can have eternal consequences. (Remember, there is no condemnation for someone who does something wrong unknowingly, unless they are unknowing on purpose!)

ii.              The fruits of NFP are a nearly non existent divorce rate, respect for the woman and the way her body is made, greater freedom and self control which increases the capacity for love (making one more ready for heaven), the possibility to make present the power of the Holy Spirit through the renewal of the wedding vows for the building up of the whole kingdom of God through the Mystical Body of Christ and the defeat of evil

V.  Vatican II and the Call to Holiness

a.     Nothing which is not holy can be united to God, and we cannot find happiness apart from Him

b.    God desires all people to be united with Him

c.     Married people travel the "narrow way" by the sacrifice and virtue that are essential to true love

d.    They run along this way when they image God through the renewal of their marriage covenant in the power of the Spirit given by Christ on the cross.

Questions for Discussion:

   1. What was the most surprising thing you learned today?

 2. What reasons cause most Americans to reject the Church’s teaching

      on birth control?

 3. Even for those who accept the Church’s teaching, the road to living it

out is often difficult. What are the major challenges to living out this

teaching?

 4. What are practical ways in which we can overcome these challenges

to living out the Chruch’s teaching on birth control?

  'Living out the Church’s teaching on contraception seems to many an impossible task. However, it only seems this way because it is difficult and requires sacrifice.’ 

Pope John Paul II

“With God all things are possible.”

                                    Mt 19:26

For Further Information:

 Christopher West's Good News About Sex and Marriage is the absolute best book out there on this topic. Written in an easy-to-read, question and answer format, it is a humorous, witty, and down to earth explanation of many of the stickier and juicier issues. This book could also have been aptly named, "Everything you ever wanted to know about the Church's teachings on sex but were afraid to ask…" =)

 www.papalencyclicals.net has the text of all of the official documents released by Popes since the 1500's.

 Visit www.tobet.org for outlines of our talks as well as to find out more.

 Contact me at avining@tobet.org for any particular questions you would like to dialogue about via email.

  A Few Good Quotes:

Theodore Roosevelt: Contraception is "the one sin for which the penalty is national death, race death; a sin for which there is no atonement." (Cited in Good News About Sex and Marriage, by Christopher West)

 Ghandi: Contraceptives are "like putting a premium on vice. They make men and women reckless." "Nature is relentless and will have full revenge for any such violations of her laws. Moral results can only be produced by moral restraints… As it is, man has sufficiently degraded woman for his lust, and [contraception], no matter how well meaning the advocates may be, will still further degrade her." (Ibid.)

 The Washington Post: The acceptance of contraception "would sound the death knell of marriage as a holy institution by establishing degrading practices which would encourage indiscriminate immorality." (Ibid.)

 Pope John Paul II: "Contraception is to be judged so profoundly unlawful as never to be, for any reason, justified. To think or to say the contrary is equal to maintaining that in human life, situations may arise in which it is lawful not to recognize God as God."(Ibid.)

 Pope Paul VI: "The teaching of the Church on the regulation of birth, which promulgates the divine law, will easily appear to many to be difficult or even impossible of actuation. And indeed, like all great beneficent realities, it demands serious engagement and much effort, individual, family and social effort. More than that, it would not be practicable without the help of God, who upholds and strengthens the good will of men. Yet, to anyone who reflects well, it cannot but be clear that such efforts ennoble man and are beneficial to the human community." Humanae Vitae 20

 "Contraception was not invented to prevent pregnancy.  There already existed a perfectly safe, infallibly reliable way of doing that; it's called abstinence. Upon deeper reflection it becomes clear that contraception was invented to indulge sexual instinct. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. the necessity that mothered contraception was our "need" for sex." Christopher West's Good News about Sex and Marriage, p.110

 Vatican II: "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear… Christ the Lord, Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling." Gaudium et Spes section 22

 Vatican II: "Furthermore, the Lord Jesus, when praying to the Father "that they may all be one…even as we are one" (Jn 17:21-22), has opened up new horizons closed to human reason by implying that there is a certain parallel between the union existing among the divine persons and the union of the sons of God in truth and love. It follows, then, that if man is the only creature on earth that God has wanted for its own sake, man can fully discover his true self only in a disinterested giving of himself." Gaudium et Spes 24

 Vatican II on discerning family size: "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. This involves the fulfillment of their role with a sense of human and Christian responsibility and the formation of correct judgement through docile respect for God and common reflection and effort; it also involve a consideration of their own good and the good of their children already born or yet to come, an ability to read the signs of the times and of their own situation on the material level, and, finally, an estimation of the good of the family, of society, and of the Church. It is the married couple themselves who must in the last analysis arrive at these judgement before God. Married people should realize that in their behavior they may not simply follow their own fancy but must be ruled by conscience-and conscience out to be conformed to the law of God in the light of the teaching authority of the Church, which is the authentic interpreter of divine law. For the divine law throws light on the meaning of married love, protects it and leads it to truly human fulfillment. Whenever Christian spouses in a spirit of sacrifice and trust in divine providence carry out their duties of procreation with generous human and Christian responsibility, they glorify the Creator and perfect themselves in Christ. Among the married couples who thus fulfill their God-given mission, special mention should be made of those who after prudent reflection and common decision courageously undertake the proper upbringing of a large number of children

            But marriage is not merely for the procreation of children: its nature as an indissoluble compact between tow people and the good of the children demand that the mutual love of the partners be properly shown, that it should grow and mature. Even in cases where despite the intense desire of the spouses there are no children, marriage still retains the its character of being a whole manner and communion of life and preserves it value and indissolubility." Gaudium et Spes 50

"There can be no conflict between the divine laws governing the transmission of life and the fostering of authentic married love… Man's sexuality and the faculty of reproduction wondrously surpass the endowments of lower forms of life; therefore the acts proper to married life are to be ordered according to authentic human dignity and must be honored with the greatest reverence. When it is a question of harmonizing married love with the responsible transmission of life, it is not enough to take only the good intention and the evaluation of motives into account; the objective criteria must be used, criteria drawn from the nature of the human person and human action, criteria which respect the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love; all this is possible only if the virtue of married chastity is seriously practiced." Gaudium et Spes 51

 Pope John Paul II: "It is a greater evil to deprive your children of siblings than it is to deprive them of material goods."

 Pope John Paul II: "Do not be afraid of the risks! God's strength is always far more powerful than your difficulties! Immeasurably greater than the evil at work in the world is the power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which the Fathers of the Church rightly called a "second Baptism". Much more influential than the corruption present in the world is the divine power of the Sacrament of Confirmation, which brings Baptism to its maturity. And incomparably greater than all is the power of the Eucharist.” etter to Families 18

 John Paul II on the good of children: "But is it really true that the new human being is a gift for his parents? A gift for society? Apparently nothing seems to indicate this. On occasion the birth of a child appears to be a simple statistical fact, registered like so many other data in demographic records. It is true that for the parents the birth of a child means more work, new financial burdens and further inconveniences, all of which can lead to the temptation not to want another birth. In some social and cultural contexts this temptation can become very strong. Does this mean that a child is not a gift? That it comes into the world only to take and not to give? These are some of the disturbing questions which men and women today find hard to escape. A child comes to take up room, when it seems that there is less and less room in the world. But is it really true that a child brings nothing to the family and society? Is not every child a "particle" of that common good without which human communities break down and risk extinction? Could this ever really be denied? The child becomes a gift to its brothers, sisters, parents and entire family. Its life becomes a gift for the very people who were givers of life and who cannot help but feel its presence, its sharing in their life and its contribution to their common good and to that of the community of the family. This truth is obvious in its simplicity and profundity, whatever the complexity and even the possible pathology of the psychological make-up of certain persons. The common good of the whole of society dwells in man; he is, as we recalled, "the way of the Church". Man is first of all the "glory of God": "Gloria Dei vivens homo", in the celebrated words of Saint Irenaeus, which might also be translated: "the glory of God is for man to be alive". It could be said that here we encounter the loftiest definition of man: the glory of God is the common good of all that exists; the common good of the human race." Letter to families 11

Dallas Area CCL Natural Family Planning Class Schedule

Class dates are subject to change. Please contact the teaching couple to confirm the dates, time and location of classes and to pre-register. For the Fort Worth Area class schedule, click here. Last updated: November 06, 2007

In English: Oct 14, Nov 11, Dec 9, 2007,Jan 13, 2007 Sundays at 3:30pm Childcare available by reservationSt. Jude Catholic Church 1515 N. Greenville Ave Allen, TX 75002Peter & Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Nov 6, Dec 11, 2007, Jan 8, Feb 12, 2008 Tuesdays at 7:00pmSt. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church 1201 Alma Dr., PlanoPeter and Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Feb 10, Mar 9, Apr 13, 2008 Sundays at 3:30pm Childcare available by reservationSt. Jude Catholic Church 1515 N. Greenville Ave Allen, TX 75002Peter & Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Mar 9, Apr 13, May 11, 2008 Sundays at 1:00pm St. John the Apostle Catholic Church 701 N. Frances Street, Terrell TX 75160Jackie & Pamela Driver 469-762-5117 March 18, April 22, May 20, 2008 Tuesdays at 7:00pmSt. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church 1201 Alma Dr., PlanoPeter and Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Spring/Summer 2008 Sundays at 2pm St. Rita Catholic Church 12521 Inwood Rd. Dallas, TX 75244Peter & Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Jun 8, Jul 13, Aug 10, 2008 Sundays at 3:30pm Childcare available by reservationSt. Jude Catholic Church 1515 N. Greenville Ave Allen, TX 75002Peter & Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Jul 13, Aug 10, Sept 14, 2008 Sundays at 1:00pm St. John the Apostle Catholic Church 701 N. Frances Street, Terrell TX 75160Jackie & Pamela Driver 469-762-5117   Sep 14, Oct 12, Nov 9, 2008 Sundays at 3:30pm Childcare available by reservationSt. Jude Catholic Church 1515 N. Greenville Ave Allen, TX 75002Peter & Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Oct 14, Nov 11, Dec 9, 2008 Tuesdays at 7:00pmSt. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church 1201 Alma Dr., PlanoPeter and Stephanie Reisinger 214-509-0828 Nov 9, Dec 14 2008, Jan 11, 2009 Sundays at 1:00pm St. John the Apostle Catholic Church 701 N. Frances Street, Terrell TX 75160Jackie & Pamela Driver 469-762-5117

Class dates are subject to change. Please contact the teaching couple to confirm the dates, time and location of classes and to pre-register.

Please visit dfwnfp.org/schedule.html for updates to this list of classes.