NFP marketing, is promoting it right?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ByWhatAuthority
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Still waiting for the proof that the old platitude is a Scripture verse or a doctrine.

Should I give a hint?

It is a gross misinterpretation of 1 Cor 10:13. God promised that we will not be tempted in such a way where we have no choice but to sin. There will always be a way to avoid sin in every temptation.

Twisting this into “God will not send us burdens that are more than we can handle” comes from the protestant “prosperity gospel”. Our Lord has promised us that His burden is light.

That phrase also fails to account for the burdens that we get ourselves into. The newspaper every day is full of people who are crushed under burdens that they could not bear.
 
TheLittleLady said:
Twisting this into “God will not send us burdens that are more than we can handle” comes from the protestant “prosperity gospel”. Our Lord has promised us that His burden is light.

That phrase also fails to account for the burdens that we get ourselves into. The newspaper every day is full of people who are crushed under burdens that they could not bear.
Click to expand...
I think that some people have a hard time dealing with the randomness of life. They want to think that everything has a reason (it doesn’t) and that whatever is happening to them is from God (it isn’t). Most of life is just people exercising free will.
 
See, your statement here implies that those who shoulder their responsibilities, A particular aspect of this responsibility concerns the regulation of procreation. For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children through periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. are somehow not accepting children lovingly from God or being “open to life” (a phrase coined by St John Paul II in 1981 and put into the common Catholic lexicon by Christopher West, the Church uses the term “ordered toward procreation”).
 
ByWhatAuthority said:
No one said we should strive to have as many babies as humanly possible, only that it should be up to God how many blessings He gives us.
Click to expand...
You act like conception is some miraculous intervention by God that NFP couples are waging war against. NFP is just having sex at certain points, and not having it at others. There’s nothing unnatural or unholy about that.

I know you don’t have kids, and if I had to guess, I’d say you’re an only child, given your lack of awareness about the multifacted strain experienced by the parents of large broods. I’m one of five, and with our family situation, there’s no way my parents could have handled a sixth.
 
Last edited:
PaulinVA said:
I think that some people have a hard time dealing with the randomness of life. They want to think that everything has a reason (it doesn’t) and that whatever is happening to them is from God (it isn’t). Most of life is just people exercising free will.
Click to expand...
Exactly. God is our Lord, not our Puppet Master.
 
My wife and I were completely blindsided by how much work only one child is (he is our first and is 6 months old). There’s no way you can express it to someone that never had kids what it takes to take care of a child and we only have one! We had to put him in daycare and we’ve been sick since. I’m at work with a low grade fever as we speak. We are stretched physically, emotionally, and financially. I don’t appreciate people telling me we should just stop being careful and just let God heap burden upon burden.

She had a difficult pregnancy and a difficult delivery. Seeing our child on oxygen and IV was traumatic. I have no desire to go through that again any time soon if I can help it. I may change my mind in the future and may choose to plan another child but as of right now it’s accidents only from here on out.
 
God bless you and your wife. Heaven knows parenthood is hard enough when your child is healthy.
 
ByWhatAuthority said:
Catholic Marriage vows say we must “accept children lovingly from God.” It doesn’t go on to say but only if you can afford them. Or are stressed out. Or whatever. There are no BUTS in regards to this issue when we make our vows. I understand allowing the use of NFP if it’s for a grave or serious reason, but this, we can’t afford it business, is taking it too far, imo. There are many people born into poverty and really have to struggle but that doesn’t mean they should not exist. And their parents were not irresponsible by the Churches standards in the past. Seems to me that things have changed. And as I said before, it is evidenced by the lack of large families in the pews of most Churches. And also by statements like “just keep poppin em out”.

It’s not NFP so much as it’s the philosophy that seems to have undermined the teaching that asonsCatholics should be open to having children.
Click to expand...
First, my “open to life” credentials. I have had 6 children and 2 miscarriages. My youngest child was born when I was 45, my oldest when I was 32. I have had 5 c-sections. I avoided pregnancy using NFP once, for a total of three months, after consulting with my confessor. My reasons were private and personal . Looking back, it was because of fear and my confessor knew that better than I did. He still approved.

How can you possibly judge the seriousness of someone’s reason? You do not live in their lives, with their spouses, with their other children, inside their heads. One person’s “grave” or “just” might be silly or trivial for another. These determinations are personal and subjective by their very nature. The Church has never attempted to provide a list of justifiable reasons to avoid pregnancy.

We are called to prudence and constant discernment in each of our decisions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to all of our problems. In most cases, there is not a single decision that is within God’s will, with all other decisions being outside of it. A person who is a carrier for a genetic disease first has to decide whether or not it is prudent to get married at all. A couple who has recourse to NFP is offered an opportunity to consider their circumstances in making a decision about their sexual activity. The decision of a married couple to engage in sexual activity or not is entirely the decision of that couple. What if they decide to refrain because the children are still awake and might hear them? Or what if one of them is just too tired or not feeling well and this situation goes on for days or even months? But what if God wanted to send them a child during this time? Would they be wrong in abstaining for reasons other than wanting to avoid conception?

Even if some of these reasons are trivial by our standards, shouldn’t we be applauding their willingness to use abstinence instead of artificial birth control? Everybody is on a journey toward learning to trust God better and more perfectly conform ourselves to his will. I know it is a bit of a cliche, but there is something to be said for meeting people where they are and accompanying them on the journey.
 
Last edited:
J_Peterson said:
She had a difficult pregnancy and a difficult delivery. Seeing our child on oxygen and IV was traumatic. I have no desire to go through that again any time soon if I can help it. I may change my mind in the future and may choose to plan another child but as of right now it’s accidents only from here on out.
Click to expand...
Can’t blame you at all for feeling like this right now. It takes time to heal after an experience like that. But, I mention for the benefit of some on this thread, nothing here says that you would not lovingly accept another child.
 
Absolutely without a doubt. If she get’s pregnant despite being careful there’s nothing we could do about it. Situations may change and we could change our mind and plan another.

He’s healthy now (despite the daycare plagues he’s bringing home). In fact he is very happy, if a bit clingy.
 
J_Peterson said:
Absolutely without a doubt. If she get’s pregnant despite being careful there’s nothing we could do about it. Situations may change and we could change our mind and plan another.
Click to expand...
My husband has a theory about this. He’s pretty sure that pregnancy is actually caused by a woman holding somebody else’s newborn when the time is right. Once the craziness of infancy has settled in and your precious newborn is a cute, sweet, toddling menace, something happens to the hormones. The memories of your months of hell on earth soften and she holds a newborn baby with that intoxicating sweetness. Then. bam! Better buckle in for the ride. In my circles, newborns abound, so it happens pretty quickly. In some circles, newborns are harder to find.
 
Last edited:
That makes a lot of sense. I don’t think it’ll happen until he sleeps solidly through the night though but I think your husband is on to something. It is fun trying so I’d be game if she changes her mind.
 
My wife and I feel we are at our limit, and we have two kids right now. Given their ages, it is quite exhausting physically and mentally with the two. We practice NFP, and if God blesses us with another child, great. But, we’re not actively seeking to have more. Like another poster pointed out, this is the alternative to total abstinence.

As for the OP, what I find most troubling is the OP’s self-assurance that his (or her) interpretation of Church teaching is correct, whereas the vast majority of this board’s is woefully wrong. That may be the case, but if I were faced with that kind of response, I think I would start to question whether the misunderstanding was mine.
 
babochka said:
My husband has a theory about this. He’s pretty sure that pregnancy is actually caused by a woman holding somebody’s else’s newborn when the time is right.
Click to expand...
I believe pregnancy is caused by giving away or wearing out too much baby stuff.
 
LundyLund said:
As for the OP, what I find most troubling is the OP’s self-assurance that his (or her) interpretation of Church teaching is correct, whereas the vast majority of this board’s is woefully wrong.
Click to expand...
It could be the case that the majority is wrong. My concern is more the denial of what actual Church documents specifically say about this.
 
I agree with you on both counts. I think the OP has been presented with lots of citations, quotes, and a lesson in Latin that suggest that his/her understanding is off. If it were me, it would make me question myself.
 
My kids are outgrowing a lot of baby stuff, but I get nervous every time I put something in storage that I’m totally jinxing myself and I’m going to have to get it back out in 9 months.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top