This week is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. I mentioned this in last week’s bulletin, and I wrote about how important it is for all of us to have some knowledge and awareness of NFP and what the Church teaches on this topic in the context of married life and love. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way in countering what we hear in the world today concerning love and marriage. A lot of what we hear today is heard subconsciously. We have been hearing about love and marriage all our lives in the context of movies, television, novels, and the internet. These sources of information seem to tell us that our sexuality is more about feeling than thought. The world has been telling us for decades that if it feels good then do it and it’s all okay. The Church teaches us to act responsibly, and love is to be freely given and freely received. Love and the expression of love cannot be forced or demanded by someone. It is modeled after God’s love for us. He freely loves us and asks us to use our free will to love Him in return. Along with this great gift of love comes a great responsibility and that responsibility must be exercised with great care and concern for others. Spouses must use this gift in such a way that their love for each other grows stronger and unites them more deeply with each other and at the same time is open to bringing new life into the world. This can only truly be accomplished by following God’s plan and not by using man-made means to plan our families. Introducing man-made pills and devices into the expression of love between a husband and wife can do great damage to the very love they are trying to express to each other. This is what can happen when we try to take control rather than simply be open to God’s plan for our lives and our family. NFP can teach us to act rationally and responsibly, not like animals who only act on instinct with no rational thought.
There is always a great challenge in following the ways of the Lord rather than the world’s or our own. It may not be easy to follow the Lord’s way, but it will bring us much peace and happiness both in this life and in the next.
I have included two inserts in the bulletin, one today and one for next Sunday on the teaching of Church concerning marriage and family life. I hope everyone will read them and share them with others who may not have the opportunity to hear what the Church really teaches about marriage and family life.
The Gospel teaches us that life is sacred and a gift from God. This very important teaching has undergone a very negative transformation in our society, especially in the past 50 plus years beginning with the Supreme Court ruling in 1973 making abortion legal on demand. It is hard to believe that a person who was born after 1973 and grew up without some religious education would have any understanding of the sacredness of human life. Our society continues to show a lack of respect for human life not only in contraception and abortion, but also in what we watch on TV, see in the movies, or read about in books. When we look at the mass shootings that go on in our country how can we really teach people to respect life? Consider this: how many of these mass shootings are carried out by people over 50?
We could also look at the loss of life in the Texas floods. We can and should mourn such a loss of life especially when so many of them are children. Whenever there is such a terrible loss of life it seems that the politicians and the media all look for someone to blame. We should be taking more time to pray for the victims and their families. It is a terrible tragedy from which we can all learn some valuable lessons. We should learn from mistakes and not just point fingers. Let us pray that those who lost their lives may be welcomed into God’s heavenly kingdom and those who have lost loved ones may be comforted by the mercy of God.
CYO NEWS:
CYO sports are a very wonderful part of our parish community. The program has been a big help to many of young people for many years. I am very grateful to Ron Paydo who has directed the program for many years. Ron has done an exceptional job with all the various sports we have offered here at Sacred Heart. Ron has decided that it is time to move on and allow someone else to take over the programs. May God bless Ron and his family for all that they have done to make CYO sports available to all our young people.
Greg Studer will be taking over as Athletic Director for Sacred Heart CYO Sports. Greg and his wife, Katherine, and their two children have been at Sacred Heart for 17 years. His children have been attending Sacred Heart School. I am very grateful to Greg for taking on this position so that our young people can continue to learn about sports and how our Catholic Faith forms us in all parts of our lives. May God bless Greg and his family in all that lies ahead.
