Have you heard Contraception during homilies?

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ppcpilot:
Most of what our homilys are are just summations of the readings and how they apply to our lives. I guess we don’t read much scripture in Mass that deals with contraception.
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There isn’t much scripture that deals with contraception for starters, at least not explicitly.
 
Here’s a good homily…

St. John Chrysostom

“Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit, where there are medicines of sterility [oral contraceptives], where there is murder before birth? You do not even let a harlot remain only a harlot, but you make her a murderess as well. . . . Indeed, it is something worse than murder, and I do not know what to call it; for she does not kill what is formed but prevents its formation. What then? Do you condemn the gift of God and fight with his [natural] laws? . . . Yet such turpitude . . . the matter still seems indifferent to many men—even to many men having wives. In this indifference of the married men there is greater evil filth; for then poisons are prepared, not against the womb of a prostitute, but against your injured wife. Against her are these innumerable tricks” (*Homilies on Romans *24 [A.D. 391]).
 
We have a night mass for Sundays for the college students and our Priest really lets us hear it all. I have heard everything and our priest even goes as far as to tell us what is wrong with our other Christian brothers and sisters. He really gets you thinking about how you should believe as a Catholic. We are really to hear this so bluntly.
 
peace be with you! i have heard all 4 of the priests at my parish condemn contraception as going against the teachings of Christ and the Church. but the priests at my parish speak out against all the moral issues that are commonly skipped over at other parishes. homilies on sin, judgement, heaven, hell, abortion, pornography, contraception, the Rosary, the sacraments are all common at my parish. we have 4 amazing priests!
 
Seven Sorrows:
Have you ever heard a priest talk on contraception during a homily?? Either promoting or condemning it?
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Yes, and I’m not even RC. He condemned it too.

becky
 
Thanks to the massive catechetical abandonment of my generation, I’d be surprised if even half of young Catholics even realize contraception is an issue into which one could inject that insidious restrictive force known as morality. Protestantism has done such a wonderful job of destroying the traces of its abandonment of orthodoxy on this issue in the 1930’s that while contraception was once condemned by all denominations as gravely evil it is now seen as something amoral. I’ve had many a frustrating discussion with my “Catholic” peers in which I’ve tried to convince them that the question, “What could be wrong with that?” actually has a weighty answer.
 
I have heard many Pro-Life sermons by Father Ted Colleton of Toronto, over many, many years. His column appears regularly in the Interim, Canada’s Pro-Life Newspaper. He gave many “NightWatch” retreats (like the old Forty Hours Devotion, 1st Friday to Saturday morning, at various parishes in Toronto)

www.theinterim.com

There have been several holy priests in my area, who have spoken clearly about the right to life, abortion and contraception.
Father Marx and Father Eutener, of HLI at conferences.

www.hli.org

There is also the Priests for Life website
www.priestsforlife.org

There are a few local priests, too, who have been active and outspoken. No one wants to risk losing the sheep completely, though…

I would say that the teaching has always been easily available for anyone who really wanted to hear it. Isn’t rh real problem that people just don’t want to hear it, that their Faith is so weak, that they can’t accept the Love of God? That He will provide for their needs?
 
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jaralenio:
Our priest mentions contraception, abortion, living together out of wed-lock and many other issues all the time and you can hear people squirming in their seats uncomfortably. I pray more priests fallow his example as well as the laity. 🙂
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Where do you attend Mass? I got to Our Lady of Fatima in ABQ, and while we have a great priest, those subjects don’t get mentioned tons, maybe monthly. We had a parochial Vicar(newly ordained just in the past year) that would bring all of them up at Daily Mass OFTEN,(and gave really tough penances BTW) but he got assigned to Roy, NM (a thriving metropolis of about 250 souls).

Ah well, at least they’ll get a powerful homily more than the average bears.
 
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itsjustdave1988:
Here’s a good homily…

St. John Chrysostom

“Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit, where there are medicines of sterility [oral contraceptives], where there is murder before birth? You do not even let a harlot remain only a harlot, but you make her a murderess as well. . . . Indeed, it is something worse than murder, and I do not know what to call it; for she does not kill what is formed but prevents its formation. What then? Do you condemn the gift of God and fight with his [natural] laws? . . . Yet such turpitude . . . the matter still seems indifferent to many men—even to many men having wives. In this indifference of the married men there is greater evil filth; for then poisons are prepared, not against the womb of a prostitute, but against your injured wife. Against her are these innumerable tricks” (*Homilies on Romans *24 [A.D. 391]).
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Thanks Dave 👍
The only time I have heard this type of homily was when it was given by an associate pastor…Unfortunately he didn’t last long…He was too controversial :confused: We should have more priests like him!
 
In fact I have heard such homilies. In the first instance, I was attending a Mass in Coldwater, MI, where the pastor (relatively young, as priests go, graduated in the 80s,) discussed how the Catholic Church was not a cafeteria, where we could pick and choose, but like Sunday dinner with one’s parents, where one must clean one’s plate. Specifically, the priest referred to contraception as wrong. The next week, he repeated his message, discussing contraception at length, commenting that we probably have not heard a priest, let alone a bishop, deliver a homily on contraception. In addition, the pastor said that he is not afraid to teach the hard truths of the faith, and that he is not running some kind of popularity contest.

In the second instance, I was present at a Mass televised on WNDU (Notre Dame University’s campus television station.) There, the priest (who had graduated in '39), in discussing the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, alluded to various sexual sins, including contraception.

Ryan King
 
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jaralenio:
Our priest mentions contraception, abortion, living together out of wed-lock and many other issues all the time and you can hear people squirming in their seats uncomfortably. I pray more priests fallow his example as well as the laity. 🙂
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I’d personally rather hear a homily that makes ME squirm in my seat… I’ve had that experience of hearing a really powerful homily, and being “convicted” (to borrow a Protestant buzzword), and needing to get to confession as soon as possible. It had nothing to do with contraception, abortion, fornication, or other “big” sin though - the church makes no secret of its teachings on those, and I have always known to avoid them. It took a much more subtle, nuanced homily to reveal to me the sin and corruption in my own life, and in my own attitudes toward other people.

But maybe I’m just strange… perhaps it’s better just to hear the priest say things that I can agree with easily. All those other unwashed sinners in the pews are much more in need of reform than me, right?
 
I not only heard a homily on contraception, but I heard it from a Bishop. It was at a confirmation of my son. My Lutheran in-laws were there at the time. They were very stunned and afterwards wanted to know why at a confirmation Mass would the bishop get into all this “sex” talk. My Lutheran (closet Catholic) husband explained to his parents that this is Church teaching and that upon being confirmed by the Church they are expected to go out into the world and live its teachings. He also told them that because so many do not live or follow its teachings it is the duty of the Bishop to give this talk.

I was very proud of him, and I was also very happy to be able to be blessed by such a profound witness as this Bishop. He doesn’t realize the great good he has done for my home and family. It backed me right up with all of these family members.

God is so great and good!
 
I did and it was great. In May I visited my grandson in Tucson and my grand daughter from San Diego was visiting also. I went to the Tridentine Mass there and she came along - (she was wide eyed during the whole homily) He spoke about sex outside of marriage, contraception, abortion and why homosexuality was disordered - couldn’t have come at a better time since she is 20 and living in Los Angeles and exposed to so much secularism and sin.
 
Yep, heard a homily on NFP just this morning.
The deacon said that it’s national NFP month, and he’s going to be talking about it next month, too.

However, one thing he said did raise my eyebrows.
He referred to God creating us in His image and likeness; male and female He created them…So God has a masculine & a feminine side. When a couple unites in the Sacrament of Matrimony, that is the image God gives of Himself here on earth.

Now I’d always been told that the ability to reason and make choices was that character that God imparted to man in His image and likeness…

I saw someone else turn her head skeptically at that remark also. (This was also a Catholic who would use NFP according to the Church’s instructions.)

The one thing that the Deacon left out was that it is only to be used for grave reasons. He did say that it is the ONLY method of preventing a pregnancy accepted by the Church. But so many who do practice NFP consider it to be little more than a Catholic form of birth control. 😦

Pax Christi. <><
 
Yes, several times, from all three of our priests. In fact, one of my friends stopped going to church because she said that the priests are always talking about abortion and sex.

One of our RCIA teachers told me something once.

She said that when a priest teaches a good homily, or does some other good act, to write a letter to the diocese and tell them. These letters go in the priest’s “file” and mark him as a good priest.

She said that the diocese gets lots of letters complaining about priests. These letters go in to the file, too.

It’s sad that priests get removed for teaching the truth, but maybe in some cases, the “negative” letters and other complaints far outnumber the positive letters and praises, so the Bishop feels that the priest is doing more harm than good in a parish, even if he is teaching the truth. But what good does the truth do if people stop coming to the Church and go to another church? I can see the bind that the Church is in on this one. They don’t want to drive people away from Eucharist to a non-sacramental church or worse, no church.

So I plan to write letters!
 
I have NEVER heard any Priest speak against contraception at Mass and I’m 42 years old.

I did hear recently my Priest speak about how he got lost at K-Mart when he was a youngster and how embarressed he was when they called out his name over the K-Mart address system…(long meaningless sermon) but it must have been in the parameters of the Scripture readings,… and apparently contraception NEVER is.
 
Panis Angelicas:
The one thing that the Deacon left out was that it is only to be used for grave reasons. He did say that it is the ONLY method of preventing a pregnancy accepted by the Church. But so many who do practice NFP consider it to be little more than a Catholic form of birth control. 😦

Pax Christi. <><
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They seem to ALWAYS leave that out! Is the intention that they sell this incrementally? Even so, it’s hard to get folks to buy this for selfish reasons.

Wonder why when they re-instituted the permanent diaconate they didn’t keep the pledge to remain continent? You know, they have to ask their wives for permissionto become deacons?
 
Never heard contraception mentioned. Personally, I can tolerate the “feel good” homilies- they do not seem to be the main problem when I visit parishes. I cannot tolerate the blatant liturgical abuse that is really disguised dissent from the church. I will take these homilies any day over 10 year old girls dancing up the aisle and the sanctuary in tights and consecrated hosts distributed in glass salad bowls.
 
There is nothing like a priest giving a sex talk:o …about a month ago the priest in my parent’s curch gave his homily on NFP…which is wacky because my parents were the only couple under 50…ok and then he went on to say what a virtue sex in marriage was…it was terrible because even the old people were getting giddy…total ewwww
 
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