Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, July 19-25, is guided by love
By Gabrielle Nolan
Every year, the Catholic Church celebrates Natural Family Planning Awareness Week in July with the goal of encouraging and supporting married couples in both their journeys of faith and their practical discernment of growing their families. This year’s theme is “Designed by God, Guided by Love, Open to Life.”
Natural family planning (NFP) is an important aspect of pro-life culture because, as its name suggests, it allows couples to take a natural, contraceptive-free approach to discerning having children. NFP allows a couple to track the woman’s biomarkers and discern whether a fertile or infertile window is the right time for the couple to unite together based on their desire to avoid or achieve conception.
NFP is aligned with Church teaching because the process honors both the unitive and reproductive process of intercourse within marriage, without harmful chemicals or physical barriers preventing connection and conception.
Let’s dive deeper into the ways NFP is valuable with this year’s theme as our guide!
Designed by God
Through the natural workings of our God-given bodies, men and women can become co-creators of new life.
Scripture illuminates God’s design for men and women in marriage in Genesis 1:27-28: “God created mankind in His image; in the image of God He created them; male and female—He created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.”
In God’s goodness and creativity, He designed for life to generate and flourish through the procreation of men and women joining together to make a family.
This model of love mirrors the Holy Trinity and gives insight to who God is.
Guided by love
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.”
This Bible verse, from 1 John 4:18, can be a guide for couples using NFP because it showcases the “why” behind NFP: love.
Is it normal for men and women to have emotions of fear when discerning having a child? Of course! Is it understandable that parents with multiple children might be anxious about conceiving again because of finances, energy, and existing family needs? Absolutely!
But being guided by love means acknowledging those emotions and choosing to trust in the Lord. God is love. Jesus Himself says in chapter 12 of Mark’s Gospel, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
If a couple prayerfully discerns with God to avoid conception for valid reasons, they are being guided by love. If a couple chooses to pursue conception after discernment with God, they, too, are being guided by love.
The logistics of NFP—cycle tracking, lab tests, consistent communication about fertility—may not always be easy, but the choices can be guided by love—love of spouse, love of God, and love of Church teaching.
Open to life
As Catholic Christians, it is important to promote a culture of life because our God is one who creates, sustains, and resurrects life! Let’s turn to sacred Scripture once again, where Jesus speaks in John 10:10: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Married couples can fight against the culture of death—abortion, contraception, euthanasia—by welcoming babies into the world. Babies, who are innocent, pure, and full of smiles, have the power to change hearts. Holy families have the power to change hearts.
Life is a gift, and each new life is an unrepeatable identity created by our Lord. This month, let us pray for married couples who are discerning having children, whether it be their first or their fifth. Let us pray that natural family planning can be a method for couples to not only achieve pregnancy but also holiness.
To learn more about natural family planning, visit the websites of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family-planning/national-nfp-awareness-week as well as the Diocese of Knoxville’s Office of Marriage and Family Life’s NFP page, www.dioknox.org/nfp.