Archive for the ‘NFP Week 2011’ Category

On Humanae Vitae and Fatima by Ralph McInerny, Ph.D.

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

“Whatever the doubts of disaffected journalists and sassy moralists, the bishops can surely have no doubt as to the binding power of Humanae Vitae and of their obligation to see that it is taught, and affirmed—to say nothing in making sure that it is not rejected in their diocese.  I wish I really thought that that is going to happen…. What is there to dialogue on this matter…The problem is that a generation of priests has been trained on dissenting theology.
There are some who object to this emphasis on something as trivial as sex.  Lift up your mind and take a spiritual view.  How do you stand on justice and peace?  Let’s feed the hungry and not get sweaty about what’s going on in people’s bedrooms.  You’ve heard all that before.  My answer is that to reflect on the message of Fatima provides the insight we need.
When Our Lady warns of what might lie ahead because of our sins, it is sins of the flesh that she emphasizes.  A hang up of the pre-conciliar Church?  I don’t think so.  I think it’s simple realism.
Chastity and purity are indispensable conditions for leading a dignified human life, let alone a Christian life. How many of the horrors of modern life are traceable to a lack of virtue in the matter of sexuality?  Will a lusty man be just?  If he pursues his lust, he is thereby going to be sinning against justice.
There was reason to hope after Vatican II.  And if things have not gone as planned, this is due, as the message of the Synod fathers noted, to sin and human weakness. So it is permissible to be optimistic now.  Not naïve, but optimistic.  Understanding that the bishops and all of us will be in need of prayer.  There is, we have been reminded, a universal call to holiness.  The proper response to that — that we can all meet merrily in heaven, as St. Thomas More put it.”

The following is an excerpt from a taped commentary by Professor Ralph McInerny on the 1985 Extraordinary Synod in Rome.

Sheila Kippley

Thanks for the online NFP manual: Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Thank You! Your online NFP book is easy to read, so helpful and informative!

This is our first month using it.   We switched immediately [from condoms].  We are already noticing a difference in our relationship.  The manual is very easy to read and understand, enabling quick use of NFP.

Thank you! It has helped us already. I looked it up before our 2nd daughter was born, to learn about ecological breastfeeding. It’s been such a wealth of information. I also read all Sheila’s books during my 2nd pregnancy. We had a lot of trouble conceiving our son, but then got pregnant with our daughter when he was only 7 months old. Your wife’s books really taught us a lot, and we really appreciate all your work. We’re hoping to use your information to conceive again. Thank you!

We really appreciated your Biblical foundation to marriage relationships. It helped my husband and me to really understand and follow God’s view of the marriage act. I recommend people getting married to read your “Introduction” in the NFP book because I think it is a lot more solid than most mainstream Christian views.

Thank YOU for providing this invaluable information without charging an arm and a leg… I figure, if you want Catholics to practice NFP, it should be easy to get access to materials and some people just don’t have money for fancy courses but still want to do what’s morally right. So THANK YOU!  We will definitely check out the blog!

I have started into your manual and other recommended readings in your manual. Seeing specifically how I should have behaved as a husband and father is proving to be good for me. While I have been forgiven for my previous sins there is still some healing going on as I read. I gave up television for Lent, and particpated in 40 Days for Life prayer and fasting vigil. Since Ash Wednesday I have read Chapter 1 of the NFP Manual, Evangelium Vitae, Humanae Vitae (twice), Casti Connubii, and your blogs on “How to Preach Humanae Vitae”. This has been a good Lent and has given me motivation to become more chaste. I plan to complete your manual over the next few weeks.

Thank you for providing such a helpful resource for learning NFP! God bless you!

My husband and I have been encouraged to try NFP, and we are thankful to have this help.

I used the NFP method once before and it worked well.  I am looking forward to using it again as a form of natural birth control.  Thank you so much for offering it free to everyone who needs it!!!

Excellent! Thank you so much for providing this manual online and at such a reasonable cost.

I’m 22 and just engaged and I haven’t had the chance to learn any of this yet. I’m always amazed when I see how God really did think of everything and that His plan is perfect. It makes me feel like I really am part of a bigger plan and that’s a really good feeling!  It was easy to understand. I especially love the use of diagrams. I printed out a chart and have started becoming more familiar with the signs and charting.  I appreciate this manual so much! I have obviously been living in my body my whole life and somehow this manual has made my body seem like a whole new world of wonderful functions that God planned as only God can. The biology and theology included is immensely helpful! Praise God for all that you have done and continue to do, and you are in my prayers.

Thanks for your work on this subject. I look forward to reading more and learning about a very God-honoring form of family planning.

A heartfelt thanks to you and the other volunteers at NFPI!! My fiancee would like to use NFP once we are married, and your downloadable manual has already been a huge help to us. We found the manual thorough yet easy to understand, and appreciate the inclusion of the subjects on morality and theology. May God bless you.

Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach
in all its versions (spiral, perfect bound or as an ebook) is available at lulu.com through August 7 at a 40% discount.

Sheila Kippley

Natural Family Planning (NFP) for Catholics

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Do Catholics have to practice natural family planning? No.  The Church teaches that it is immoral for married couples to use barrier methods, abortifacients, hormonal birth control, sodomy, masturbation, IVF, sterilization or any other unnatural method of birth control.  The Church teaches that couples who engage in such behavior after sufficient reflection and with full consent of their wills incur the guilt of mortal sin.

Do Catholics need to have a sufficiently serious reason to use natural family planning? It depends. Catholics do need to have a sufficiently serious reason if they choose to avoid or postpone pregnancy with the use of chaste systematic natural family planning. Systematic NFP is when the couple records their fertile and infertile times of the cycle and abstain during their fertile times to avoid pregnancy.  On the other hand, married couples do not need a sufficiently serious reason to use NFP in order to achieve pregnancy.  Nor do they need it to space their babies through breastfeeding.  With ecological breastfeeding you are caring for your baby as God intended and you are doing what is best for your baby.  It is your baby’s frequent and unrestricted suckling day and night that postpones the return of fertility after childbirth.

For Church teaching on family planning and generosity in having children, read Chapters 1 and 7 of Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach.  To learn how to space babies naturally through breastfeeding, read The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor.  Both books or ebooks are available at a 40% discount through August 7 at lulu.com.

Sheila Kippley