Great Sermon on Matrimony and the duties of Motherhood vs the abuses on NFP

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Father is correct that one must have sufficient reasons for using NFP. But then he makes the mistake of equating NFP with periodic continence; they’re NOT the same. NFP is a way of determining fertility based on certain physical signs of the woman’s fertility. And then, based on those signs, a couple may determine if they have sufficient reason for having the marriage act at that time or abstaining (remember, NFP can also be used to achieve pregnancy). But when this priest cites author Greg Popcak’s recommendation that couples practice NFP every month to discern if they’re being called to have another child and says Popcak’s recommendation is wrong, it’s evident that he’s wrongly thinking Popcak is exhorting couples to practice periodic continence each month, which just isn’t the case.
 
My audio isn’t working so this may not apply to the homily. But I’ve noticed how strange it is that people on polar opposites of the Church make essentially the same mistake about NFP. Both seem to think that, in essence, NFP is just a catholic form of contraception. One side concludes from that assumption that any form of birth control must be acceptable, the other concludes that NO form of birth control must be morally acceptable. Neither side ever seems to listen to what the Church actually says about the matter.

NFP can be abused, but it isn’t ordered towards being abused. It fundamentally pushes the couple BACK towards recognizing that sexuality includes fertility and nudges them towards examining their allegedly serious reason to avoid in ways contraception never does (it does the opposite, actually).

It’s good to be not less, and not more catholic than the pope! 😉
 
Have not listened.

But here is a very nice summary of what the Church teaches from the Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. When is it moral to regulate births?
2368-2369
2399

The regulation of births, which is an aspect of responsible fatherhood and motherhood, is objectively morally acceptable when it is pursued by the spouses without external pressure; when it is practiced not out of selfishness but for serious reasons; and with methods that conform to the objective criteria of morality, that is, periodic continence and use of the infertile periods.
  1. What are immoral means of birth control?
2370-2372

Every action - for example, direct sterilization or contraception - is intrinsically immoral which (either in anticipation of the conjugal act, in its accomplishment or in the development of its natural consequences) proposes, as an end or as a means, to hinder procreation.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html
 
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