Awe of Life Part Two

Awe of Life Part Two

What do you suggest for couples seeking to discern what God asks of them through the Church's call to responsible parenthood?

Here we are discussing openness to life within marriage. The answer to this question lies in the law of love, and also, of course, in hope and trust as opposed to fear, which so infects the world today. Kathleen and I made the regretful mistake of beginning our marriage succumbing to the lie of artificial contraception, including the use of the abortifacient pill. By the sublime grace of God we converted from this error, and have been showered with the undeserved grace of having thus far 19 children, 14 living on earth and five in heaven.

The Catholic Church teaches that it is necessary that each and every marriage act remain ordered per se to the procreation of human life -- Catechism No. 2366.

Why would the Church teach this? What business it of theirs you might ask. Ok, I can understand this initial reaction. Let’s see if I can shed a little light on this question.

In other words, each marital act must include both the element of unity, oneness, and pleasure… along with the potential life-giving side of the act. Should we accept one benefit and power of the gift while rejecting the other ? This calls for openness to the gift of life and trust in God’s providence.

The Church does of course allow for couples to space the births of their children for just reasons via natural family planning, which could be the subject of another program.

So the subjective question comes down to married couples discovering the will of God each month, each cycle of fertility, regarding their openness and readiness to embrace and be open to co-creating new life in partnership with God, of bringing a beautiful new person into existence in time and eternity,