FACTS FOR LIFE
A Canadian Students Pro-Life Paper
"Assisting and Encouraging Canadian Students in the Facts For Life"
 Volume 2003, Spring Issue

GOD’S PLAN
FOR HUMAN LIFE...



INDEX 


God's Magnanimous Plan for Human Life

For Class Discussion

What is Natural Family Planning?

Did You Know

Of Human Life: A FREE publication

A Catholic Physicians Story

Prayer


GOD’S MAGNANIMOUS PLAN
FOR HUMAN LIFE
by Fr. Jim Whalen



By Fr. Jim Whalen

      God’s plan for human life exceeds all our expectations. Young people must begin to prepare themselves for marriage long before they enter marriage. Young people enjoy the exercise of drawing up a list of characteristics that they would like their future spouse to have. It would be of more value and use to draw up a list of characteristics that they themselves should have in order to be a worthy spouse. There is a need to reflect on their expectations for marriage. Many will be surprised to find that their expectations are often self-centered. Marriage requires loving, faithful, kind, forgiving, courageous, wise, and unselfish individuals. No one has all these characteristics before they marry, but they can certainly be acquired by working at it. The alternative is to acquire characteristics such as selfishness, pride, and impatience that are definitely not life-giving to marriage. Faithfulness involves saving the gift of self for one’s future spouse. One should not only prepare oneself for marriage but one should save oneself for marriage. 

God’s plan for human life is magnanimous: “Increase and multiply” (Gen 1:28). It means openness to the transmission of life in conjugal love in the sacrament of marriage (Humanae Vitae, #11). It means openness to the gift of fertility in marriage. It means openness to God. It means responsible parenthood and responsible stewardship. It means total self-giving in marriage.
Pope Paul VI outlines four main characteristics of conjugal love in marriage as found in his encyclical, Humanae Vitae, #9:

“The basic call of Humanae Vitae is for God’s people to make all their acts life-giving, in imitation of God in whose image they are made” (Totally Yours, Fr. Joseph Hattie, OMI, 1999, p. 60). 

Preparing oneself and saving oneself for marriage begins by remaining chaste and being attentive to God’s teachings on Christian morality. It means being careful as to what form of entertainment we take part in, what kind of music we listen to, what kind of movies and TV shows we watch, and how we dress. People who choose to engage in sexual relations before marriage are living deceptively. They are not acquiring the virtues of trust and honesty. They deceive themselves. They deceive parents, friends and teachers. If they are deceptive before marriage, how can they be trusted in marriage? Courtship is a time for getting to know one another for planning, for expressing expectations, worries and hesitations. By remaining chaste, the emphasis is where it should be, not on seeking pleasure or rejecting God’s plan for couples. Willingness to wait out of love and respect for God and the other is a great witness to their strength of character. 

Three basic truths help us to understand the relations between sex, love, marriage and children. Marriage is the only proper arena for sexual activity. Marriages must be faithful for the love of spouses to survive and thrive. Children are one of the greatest gifts to parents in the sacrament of marriage. Dr. Janet Smith gives young people strong advice regarding sexual activity: “If you don’t want babies and bonding, you shouldn’t be having sex. You shouldn’t be having sex if you’re not married, because that’s where babies and bonding are appropriate” (Contraception, Why Not?, p.15). The Church is clear on this. Human sexuality has a certain nature and unless we live in accord with that nature, chaos will result. This is nothing more than following natural law which says that if you want things to prosper you have to use them in accord with their nature. We cannot separate the unitive and procreative acts of conjugal love in marriage for this is saying no to God’s creative plan for human life. God wants having children to be within the loving act of spouses because God wants the parents to love the children in the same way in which He loves all of us, in a committed and unconditional way.

What God wants is chastity before marriage and chastity during marriage. Chastity is a gift from God for every person in every state of life, a powerful virtue and a strong foundation for real intimacy. It means respect for our sexuality and fertility. It means love and respect for self and spouse. It is good for the soul and pleasing to God. It is always possible with God’s help. It means living the gift of sexuality – the way God intended.

Catholics have a radically different view of children from the rest of society. Not only does the Catholic Church teach that children are a gift from God, but also that their souls have been entrusted to them, and that these souls are to be returned to God. God wants us to realize that parents and children need each other. Married couples may have on occasion good reasons to curtail childbearing or grave motives to avoid a new birth for a time. Some of these reasons may include serious physical factors, serious illness, economic factors, lacking necessary means of survival, social and political factors, unjust legislation, psychological factors, serious depressions, and development of addictions such as drugs or gambling (Humanae Vitae, #10). The married couple must make their decision in conformity with God’s creative intentions and God’s will. Natural Family Planning, a method of fertility awareness and appreciation, is one of the most effective means of planning one’s family.


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FOR CLASS DISCUSSION

Situation #1:
Many young Canadians are sexually active before marriage.  

For Class Discussion:
Why are young people sexually active before marriage? How difficult is it to remain chaste until marriage? What can young people do to help them remain chaste until marriage?

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Situation #2:
It is estimated that a high percentage of the Canadian population uses contraception as a method of birth control.

For Class Discussion:
Why is the Catholic Church against contraception?
 

ASK YOUR PARISH PRIEST,
SCHOOL PASTORAL ANIMATOR OR
CHAPLAIN TO SIT IN
ON YOUR CLASS DISCUSSIONS.

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WHAT IS
NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING?


        Married couples are called to plan their families with God. Natural Family Planning (NFP), when not used with a contraceptive mentality, is family planning which is faithful to the laws of human nature and to the spouses’ natural relationship with God (Totally Yours, Rev. Joseph Hattie, OMI). NFP simply accepts from God’s hands the natural cycles of fertility and infertility that He has built into the nature of women. NFP is an expression of the natural law, especially with respect to the human generation, and thus assists spouses to do the will of God (Totally Yours). NFP helps couples to be more open to God’s creative intentions.

Definition: 
     NFP is a knowledge of God’s biological laws of fertility and procreation and a method for using that knowledge which helps married couples to recognize when they are fertile and when they are not, which, in turn, helps them to be able to achieve or postpone a pregnancy in harmony with God’s “creative intention” for them.

     This method, also called ‘Fertility Appreciation’ or ‘Fertility Awareness’, is based on the observation of naturally occurring signs of the fertile phase of a woman’s fertility cycle. Married couples can choose to use NFP to either achieve or postpone pregnancy. Couples simply abstain from sexual relations during time of fertility to postpone pregnancy. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used in the practice of NFP.

     NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promotes openness to life, and recognizes the value of every child. By respecting the love-giving and life-giving natures of marriage, NFP enriches the bond between husband and wife.

Who can use NFP?
     Any married couple can use NFP! A woman need not have “regular cycles”. NFP education helps couples to fully understand their combined fertility, thereby helping them either to achieve or postpone pregnancy. The key to successful use of NFP is cooperation, shared commitment, and communication between husband and wife.

Is NFP morally acceptable?
     All major religions including the Catholic Church accept the use of natural family planning when couples have a sufficient serious reason for limiting family size.

     The Catholic Church is opposed to sterilization and the use of contraceptive or abortifacient drugs and devices. It should be noted that intrauterine devices (IUD), birth control pills, hormonal implants, and injections can cause abortions as they render the uterine lining hostile to implantation of the embryo.

     NFP is unique among the methods of family planning because it enables its users to work with the body rather than against it. Fertility is viewed as a blessing, not a curse, a reality of life that is accepted, not a problem to be solved.
For more information on Natural Family Planning:
One More Soul – www.onemoresoul.com
WOOMB Canada: www.billings-centre.ab.ca

To learn more about Natural Family Planning, speak to your parish priest or your family and life department at your local bishop’s office.

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DID YOU KNOW….


Of Human Life

A pastoral letter to the people of God of northern Colorado
on the truth and meaning of married love

+ Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver
July 22, 1998

Available FREE from:
Priests for Life Canada
PO Box 43, Cumberland ON K4C 1E5
Tel: (613) 732-3950   Fax: (613) 732-9196
E-mail: priests@priestsforlifecanada.com

Reprinted with permission of the Archdiocese of Denver

In 1968, amidst a world-wide sexual revolution, Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life). This encyclical reaffirmed the Church’s constant teaching on the regulation of births.

Thirty years later, in 1998, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. of the Archdiocese of Denver, CO, issued a pastoral letter titled ‘Of Human Life’ to his people in the Denver Archdiocese.

In his opening statement, Archbishop Chaput writes, “It is certainly the most misunderstood papal intervention of this century. It was the spark which led to three decades of doubt and dissent among many Catholics, especially in the developed countries. With the passage of time, however, it has also proven prophetic. It teaches the truth. My purpose in this pastoral letter, therefore, is simple. I believe the message of Humanae Vitae is not a burden but a joy. I believe this encyclical offers a key to deeper, richer marriages”.

The short document that Archbishop Chaput wrote in defence of Humanae Vitae, and its relevance thirty years later, has become an excellent document for the study of married life and its rich relationship between husband and wife.

At no cost to students, Priests for Life Canada is making this document available. This nineteen-page booklet is an invaluable resource to the student who is planning his/her future, and especially valuable to those who wish to do an essay or project on married love in the Catholic Church. Also available free of charge, is the encyclical, ‘Humanae Vitae’, written by Pope Paul VI.



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THERE’S AN EASY WAY
TO START A STUDENTS’
PRO-LIFE GROUP
IN YOUR SCHOOL…

JUST DO IT!

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WITH TRUE
CONTRITION, JESUS
UNDERSTANDS, AND
JESUS FORGIVES.



A CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN’S STORY
By José R. Fernandez, MD

As a family physician, I was trained that the only way to plan families effectively was to use artificial contraceptives, IUDs or sterilization. Although these artificial methods had side effects, I was taught in medical school that they were worth the risk. Moral consequences were not to be considered since our faith life had nothing to do with our bodies, right? I was constantly reminded that one’s bag of morals and life ethics should be left at the doorway to medical education. I was there to serve the desires of my patients whether they wanted birth control pills or tubal ligations. My personal feelings, regardless of Church teaching had nothing to do with my practice of medicine.
To be honest, I never knew what the Church really taught on this subject. Even if I had known, I thought it could not impact the way I practiced medicine.

At the beginning of our marriage, my wife and I used oral contraceptives, but after our first child, we switched to the Sympto-Thermal Method of Natural Family Planning. This decision was not really based on faith, but due to our concerns for the side effects of the “pill” and the fact that my wife never took it consistently anyway.
One day at the end of a rotation during family practice residency, one of my best friends asked me a question that shook me to the roots of my being. “José”, he asked, “I know you are a good doctor, but are you a Catholic doctor?”

That simple question threw me into a tailspin. I, like so many other Catholics, thought that going to Church on Sunday and going to Confession when you did something “really bad”, was all that one needed to be a good Catholic. What I found out was that I could not have been further from the truth.

It took me a while to figure it out. I sought the counsel of many. Most could not appreciate the struggle I was in and why I wrestled with these issues, especially at this point in my life. I was made to feel I would be abandoning my patients and that I would be denying them a service I had provided in the past. After all, what would my patients say to me if I told them that I had stopped prescribing contraceptives, could no longer perform vasectomies or tubal ligations, just because of my Church’s teaching?

Through it all, my wife gave me the inner strength to know that I was on the right path. As I grew in my Catholic faith, I realized God’s plan for me, my family and the patients I cared for, had to do with not only what I was doing, but also the way I was doing it. My wife was instrumental in helping me pick up the pieces. In many ways, she showed me I had not entered into a profession called medicine, but rather I had entered into a vocation, a way of life, one that was very personal. She showed me that my faith and values at home should and could impact my practice of medicine.

Since that soul searching, I have become a strong advocate for Natural Family Planning and the Culture of Life. To my surprise (and the surprise of my colleagues) my patients did not feel abandoned. Some were curious as to why I had made this decision, and said they admired me for standing up for my beliefs.

I find myself each day trying to be more faithful to the God who loves and forgives me. Each day, regardless of the ‘hat’ I wear, I am able to love a little more and forgive a little more. I have learned there are issues which cannot be compromised. For me, being a Catholic physician is all I know because my faith has pierced my heart and my soul.
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This article is courtesy of  www.onemoresoul.com

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In many high schools, students are permitted to assist in opening announcements and prayers. We encourage you to say the following prayer at least once a week in your school.
   


 JESUS, ALMIGHTY
KING OF KINGS

Jesus, Almighty King of kings,
You Who obeyed Your Father to the end,
Teach me the meaning of obedience.
My soul burns to comply to Your Will,
Striving to charm Your Divinity.
While my worldly nature seeks one way,
My spiritual nature seeks another.
Bless me with the strength to obey,
That my soul may subdue both natures,
Blending them as a fair aromatic bloom.
I always seek favour in Your eyes,
To always obey You until my last breath!
 

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The Facts for Life
a publication by
Priests for Life Canada
 P.O. Box 43, Cumberland ON  K4C 1E5
1-800-300-2007     Tel/Fax:(613) 834-2226
E-mail: priests@priestsforlifecanada.com

Home Page: http://www.priestsforlifecanada.com

 NATIONAL DIRECTOR
Rev. Fr. James Whalen
Box 99, Cumberland, Ontario, K4C 1E5

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