Check it out . . . even the Pope has doubts about those glowing reports of NFP Joy:
“Surely in no way do we wish here to be silent about the difficulties, sometimes serious, which the life of Christian husbands and wives encounters. For the, as for each of us, ‘the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.’…..Therefore let married couples freely take upon themselves the hardships destined for them, strengthened with faith and that hope which ‘does not disappoint: because the love of God has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’ With persistent prayer let them beg for Divine help. And especially let them draw grace and charity from the unfailing font of the Eucharist. If, however, they are still held back by sins, let them not be discouraged, but as humble and resolute people take refuge in the mercy of God, which the sacrament of Penance dispenses abundantly.
Pope Paul VI,On Human Life (Humanae Vitae)
Stolen from my Family Honor course work, where I’m getting piles of good pope-quotes. Of course now my instructors, if they are goofing off here, know exactly how far behind I am on my homework. But I’m catching up! I am!
For those who want awareness of my thoughts on NFP, here’s “Should NFP be Easy” over at my friend Sarah Reinhard’s place, and here’s another post on NFP vs. Contraception, which look, Bearing says you should read (and she adds helpful comments that cause it to make more sense).
Now back to homework catch-up time.
One of the things I like about Humanae Vitae is that a third of the Encyclical is a discussion of all the things people in all sorts of professions and walks of life have to do in order to make it genuinely viable. It doesn’t just look at this revolution in technology and says ‘don’t do it’; it explicitly recognizes how difficult this is going to look, and proposes a revolution in society to make not doing it generally feasible.
Of course, people being people, those are the parts of the Encyclical that get ignored by everyone.
Yes. It’s a seriously under-appreciated work.