The Gospel of Life

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the encyclical letter by Pope Paul VI on the regulation of birth, I re-read it yesterday during my hour of adoration of the blessed sacrament. It was published (promulgated? I always forget where that word applies!) on July 25, 1968.

It's a beautiful little work which I think explains clearly the beauty of marriage and the responsibility of husbands and wives who are "the free and responsible collaborators of God the Creator." God has given us an incredible gift in this ability to share in the act of creation. We are able to create new life, just as He did with Adam and Eve. The love of a man and woman, when expressed physically, creates life, just as the love of the Father and the Son brought forth the Holy Spirit.

God generously gave us this freedom to reproduce, which you can see all around you. What you don't see as often is the "responsible" part. That means treating the gift of sex with the respect it deserves. Reserving it for husbands and wives alone. Those married couples must also cherish it by not tearing apart the 2 integral halves of the marital act: unitive and procreative. The unitive aspect is a way for spouses to renew their marriage vows and show their love for one another. "By safeguarding both these essential aspects, the unitive and the procreative, the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its ordination towards man's most high calling to parenthood." Most people are all in favor of the unitive side, but balk at the procreative side.

Most of us would recognize certain disordered behaviors if we saw them. Less serious, perhaps, but disordered. Chewing a mouthful of food for the flavor and then spitting it out because they're on a diet, is one example. Or going so far as to eat an entire meal and then vomit to avoid weight gain. That's what anorexics do----they eat for the comfort of the food, but don't want what comes with it. We know that's an illness. Food has 2 purposes---enjoyment and nutrition. Why is it any less disordered to have sex (with a spouse or not!), but not want to experience the natural fruit of that act?

As it says in Humanae Vitae, it is not necessary for every marital act to result in a child. In fact, God gave women rhythms in their cycles of fertile and infertile periods for this very reason. It is perfectly acceptable to make use of the infertile phases and NOT the fertile phases if there are serious reasons to avoid a pregnancy. But in that way, each marital act remains open to the transmission of new life. Just knowing that a new life could result each time you are with your spouse gives you new respect for that spouse and the beauty of the act. Using any form of contraception deliberately frustrates the procreative side of sex and fundamentally changes it. Believe me, from someone who has seen it from both sides, there is a huge difference!

"The teaching of the Church on the regulations 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 reflect well, it cannot but be clear that such efforts ennoble man and are beneficial to the human community."

Can you imagine if contraception were outlawed (again---it wasn't always legal), and there were greater risks associated with extra-marital sex? There would be more respect for women, not less. Contraception strips us of our very womanhood and makes us simply objects of lust. It doesn't really make us more powerful because we can control our "sexual health". There would be far fewer out-of-wedlock babies where the father is not in the picture. Men would be more inclined to shoulder the responsibility of a family if they knew from the beginning that a family could result!

Men and women are equal in dignity before the Lord, our Creator, but women are special because they are the ones who actually get to carry that new life within them. and nurture it. It makes me sad that so many women are willing to be oppressed by contraception and don't recognize it.

Of course, I recognize that many Catholics don't understand the Church teaching against contraception and how beautiful it is. Non-Catholics just think we're stuck in the dark ages and accept what society teaches without much consideration of the alternatives. When my husband of 4 years said that he had read Humanae Vitae and could no longer use contraception, I was floored. I refused to "have a baby every year just because the Pope said I should!" Ouch. That was hateful and un-informed. OTOH, I had heard about Natural Family Planning and was willing to try it since we were unhappy with all the contraceptives we had tried. Let me tell you, opening the doors to God by respecting His procreative and unitive act changed my life and my marriage. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever done---to say Yes to my husband and the Lord.