Humanae Vitae- Proclaiming God's gifts of love and life to husband and wife Humanae vitae is a papal encyclical written by Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1968. The encyclical “provides beautiful and clear teaching about God's plan for married love and the transmission of life.” Today, July 25, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of Humane vitae. I wish that I had found and read this encyclical sooner as, for me and my husband, it clearly states God’s plan for us both as a married couple and as parents. Before, we were confused on the Church’s teachings on certain issues, especially birth control. While we didn’t feel right using any form of birth control, we did not know that contraception was a mortal sin. It wasn’t until after our son was born that we began to get the feeling that birth control, in any form, was morally and intrinsically evil. So, I listened to God, who was patiently encouraging me to seek His truth and did the obvious next step; I googled: “Is birth control a mortal sin?” And I found the following: Every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil (Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2370). At first, I felt scared that we had disobeyed God but then felt relief that we had found the truth and knew that this is why we are so blessed to have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After more prayer and research, my husband and I learned and accepted the fact that there are only two purposes for the marital act. 1. To bring forth children and 2. To unite the husband and wife together. “[Married love is] above all, an act of the free will, whose trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life, but also to grow, so that husband and wife become in a way one heart and one soul, and together attain their human fulfillment.” ~ Humanae vitae, 9 About one year ago, we started to practice Natural Family Planning (NFP).
In the year that we had been practicing NFP to delay pregnancy (it can also be used to conceive a child), we’ve gone through a tremendous transformation as a married couple. At first, it was difficult. Really difficult. Not only did we have to abstain at certain times each month, but when we didn’t have to abstain, we had to put 100% of our trust in God that if He wanted us to conceive a child, then we would. After a while we began to get the hang of NFP and found that not only was it easy to implement, it helped us grow closer as a couple by working together to learn my fertile and infertile times in my cycle. NFP also alerted me to some possible health issues that are being addressed, which I otherwise may have never noticed. Despite the difficult times that we faced in our first pregnancy with our son and shortly after, God has healed us and allowed us to realize that children are a gift. In fact, “the ‘supreme gift of marriage’ is a human person. (CCC: 2378) Now we are no longer trying to delay pregnancy, and instead, we are still using NFP but to try and achieve pregnancy. Humanae vitae contains so much more beautiful and necessary information that I highly recommend everyone read the encyclical, especially those who are married, engaged, dating or single and desiring a marriage for the future. Resources: To read Humanae vitae, please visit: http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html For a number of additional resources that will help deepen one’s understanding of the encyclical, please visit: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/natural-family-planning/resources/humanae-vitae.cfm#hv Natural Family Planning: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/natural-family-planning/what-is-nfp/nfp-process.cfm As always, thank you for reading. God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always! Please remember to like and share our Facebook page. Sources: Blessed Pope Paul VI. “Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968) | Paul VI.” Biography | w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html “Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText.” Vatican, www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P86.HTM “The Sacrament of Marriage and Its Primary Purpose.” Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts, 2 June 2016, trcthoughts.com/2016/06/the-sacrament-of-marriage-and-its-primary-purpose
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July 24th is the Feast Day for Saint Charbel. If you have yet to hear about this saint, you aren't alone. I, too, had never heard of him until one of the moms at our Catholic Mom's Group mentioned this wonderful saint to us at one of our group meetings. Saint Charbel has been associated with thousands and thousands of miracles, blessings and cures in his home country of Lebanon and throughout the entire world. In fact, I am one of these thousands and thousands who is eternally grateful to St. Charbel for his intercession. (More on that topic for another journal.) St. Charbel was born in Lebanon in 1828 and his birth name is Youssef Antoun Makhlouf. Ordained in 1859, St. Charbel lived in a monastery and then a hermitage until his death in 1898. About St. Charbel, from Catholic.org: "He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshiping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice. Few months [after his death], dazzling lights were seen around [his] grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces. In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint's intercession." To read more about Saint Charbel, visit Catholic.org For the Prayer to Saint Charbel, please click here. For a Novena to Saint Charbel, please click here. As always, thank you for reading. God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always! Please remember to like and share our Facebook page. Sources:
Saint Charbel, Catholic Online, https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=112 Image: By Unknown (Old Photo) (www.st-charbel.fr) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons One of the highlights of this month was when Dynamic Catholic approached me about reading and sharing Matthew Kelly's newest book "The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity." When the book arrived this week, I couldn't wait to dig in. While I will not do you the disservice of telling you what the lie is that Kelly writes about in this book, I will tell you that this book is something that every single Catholic should read. Kelly is correct when he states that "it is the one truth that is the key to re-energizing the Church in America and transforming the world." I feel energized and I am not even half-way through the book! But major changes and transformations, as those described by Kelly,s can only happen when a large number of people come together. Strength in numbers, powered by the Holy Spirit; imagine what we could do! The book will be released on August 15, 2018. If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of the book, visit DynamicCatholic.com to learn more on how you can pre-order a book.
Plus, from now until August 1, 2018, you can also order 240 copies or more for $1 per copy (shipping is free!) Reach out to your parish to see if they would like to take part in this opportunity. The books will then ship to you or your parish in December for distribution at Christmas Masses. "This book is about the single truth that is the key to re-energizing the Catholic Church, bringing Christian unity, and transforming the world." ~Matthew Kelly When I was younger, I loved getting new supplies when it was time to go back-to-school. While I was not (and am still not) a fan of shopping in general, I used to thoroughly enjoy going shopping with my mom for new school supplies.
For some reason, the thought of new supplies helped to ease my "back-to-school" scaries that I would get each year as summer winded down and we approached a new school year. Even in college, I loved getting new books and supplies ready and would feel the same excitement that I felt in primary school. That is why when one of the mothers from our Catholic Mom's Group approached me about helping out with a Backpack Donation Drive for a local elementary school, I jumped to the chance to help. It broke my heart to learn that many of these students and their families have an extremely difficult time acquiring the means to getting back-to-school items. If you would like to help by donating to the Backpack Donation Drive keep reading! We are currently seeking pencils, paper, crayons, notebooks, binders, highlighters, folders, markers, rulers, etc... Monetary donations are also welcome. Donations can be mailed or dropped off at Holy Ghost Church, 472 Atwells Avenue, Providence, Rhode Island 02909. Church hours: holy-ghost-church.org/contact. If mailing a monetary donation, please indicate that the donation is for the Backpack Donation Drive. We ask that all donations are in by Sunday, August 19. Please help us spread the word with your family, friends and co-workers! Facebook.com/CatholicMomRI Thank you in advance, God bless you! |
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