In my previous blog, I wrote about the challenges of preaching about marital chastity and suggested a series of homilies based on what Jesus said and did at the Last Supper. The reason for this starting point is that the homily is supposed to be about the readings at that Mass. It is my understanding, however, that it is also allowable to preach about the Mass itself, and that would necessarily include the first Mass, the Last Supper, and its forward look to the Sacrifice on Calvary. There is a great richness in what Jesus said and did at the Last Supper, and that can frequently be applied to the challenges of the day.
A word of caution
I realize that many preachers will opt for something different, so I want to offer two words of caution that apply to every sort of homily on the subject.
1. Watch your language very closely. Do not use the term “sexual intercourse.” Instead, use the Church’s term, “the marriage act.” We know a priest who heard a talk on NFP and related issues, and the next week he delivered a faith-filled homily. Unfortunately, he used the term “sexual intercourse” a number of times in his talk and received criticism even from his friends. In my opinion, any particular method of birth control should not be mentioned more than once, and the fertility signs should not be mentioned at all.
2. Plan to give a series of homilies, not just one. One might be enough to get a few people excited about NFP or riled up that you would dare challenge the culture within the parish, but a series of several well prepared homilies spread over a number of months will make it clear that the teaching reaffirmed by Humanae Vitae is not something peripheral but is, as Pope John Paul said, at the core of Catholic teaching. You can find the basis for that statement in Chapter 7 of Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality. For example, denying the doctrine of marital non-contraception is “equivalent to denying the Catholic concept of revelation” (JP II, April 10, 1986). Further, it is a “teaching which belongs to the permanent patrimony of the Church’s moral doctrine” and “a truth which cannot be questioned” (JP II, March 14, 1988).
The Last Supper Homilies
I am under no impression that Our Lord directly addressed the question of birth control at the Last Supper. Not at all. However, Jesus did address the collateral issues of the birth control crisis. How can we come to know the truth about love? What right do the Church and the Pope have to tell me anything about sex and love? How can I be expected to accept or endure any self-restraint?
The seven homilies I wrote in the early Eighties had these themes:
1. Christian servanthood
2. Promises about the Holy Spirit
3. Discipleship
4. The Great Commandment
5. The New Covenant
6. The Role of Peter
7. The Last Supper, Calvary, and the Resurrection.
The structure of each homily was the same. Explain something that Jesus did or said at the Last Supper. Explain its relevance in the life of every Christian, young or old, single or married. Apply it briefly to the birth control issue. Refer to a brochure that was to be inserted into the parish bulletin. In that brochure would be the material I would not want to talk about from the pulpit before a general congregation. At this point in time, those brochures are most likely either not available or have been changed so much as to be not applicable. But if a priest reads about the subjects, he can create his own handout for bulletin insertion. Or, if I should get enough requests to make it evident that it would not just be a waste of time to write such handouts, I could do so and make them available for downloading.
1. Christian Servanthood. The theme of Christian servanthood flows rather obviously from the washing of the feet. The person with greater talents is called to help the person with lesser talents. We are also called to be servants of the truth including the truth about love. Therefore the Church and each priest are called to proclaim the divine truth about human love even at the risk of rejection. The brochure to be inserted in the bulletin was titled, “What Does the Catholic Church Really Teach about Birth Control?” I would most likely revise it into something much shorter today. Suggested further reading at this website: “Understanding Humanae Vitae” in the “And More” box on the Home Page.
2. Promises about the Holy Spirit. The second homily deals with guidance by the Holy Spirit. The Last Supper promises are reviewed, and the Council of Nicea is explained in terms of those promises. That is, for us to believe that the profession of faith we make each Sunday is true, we have to believe a prior truth, namely, that at Nicea the Holy Spirit was guiding the bishops just as Jesus had promised. The same promises of guidance are applied to the Tradition on birth control, unanimous among all Christians until the Anglican Lambeth conference in 1930. Reference is made to the consequences of rejecting the truth of the Christian Tradition, consequences that you read about every week in the newspapers or see on the television news. These are spelled out more clearly and extensively in a brochure that was titled, “The Legacy of Contraception: Fornication, Divorce, Abortion.” Suggested further reading at this website: “The Sexual Revolution, Part 1” in the “And More” box on the Home Page.
3. Discipleship. Christian discipleship is the theme of the third homily. The Last Supper calls for discipleship, and we prove to be disciples of the Lord by keep his commandments. The promise of Christian joy is reviewed. Applying this to the birth control issue, discipleship is advanced as the prime reason for accepting the teaching of the Church and using only natural methods of conception regulation. Other reasons would be spelled out in a bulletin insert. At the time I recommended something titled “the Good News about Natural Family Planning.” Today there are many such introductory brochures.
To be continued next week.
John F. Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality