Sharing the Gift of NFP

I met Sheila St. John, the Executive Director of CANFP, and Dr. Lynn Keenan, President of the Executive Board, in the summer of 2012 at a week-long NFP conference for seminarians of the Diocese of Oakland, California. It was a very informative week, yet, due to the obvious lack of needing NFP for myself, as well as my own ignorance of the theological anthropology that illuminates its methods, I allowed the majority of the content to pass me by. I couldn’t have been more mistaken. Although I kept the binder we received from Sheila—packed with information on NFP—on my bookshelf in the seminary, I never returned to it. That is, until this last semester, when I took the course on human sexuality at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, CA.

The course, taught by Sister Paula Jean Miller, FSE, was an extensive look into the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality, focusing primarily on the thought of Pope St. John Paul II, the author of Man and Woman, He Created Them, otherwise known as Theology of the Body. Naturally, there was a section of the course devoted to preserving the dignity of fertility through NFP. My one week crash course from Sheila and Dr. Keenan came rushing back to assist me, as well as a newfound appreciation for NFP.

The course at the seminary was an eye-opening event in the my life. The theological anthropology of John Paul II, which sees the person—body and soul—as destined to participate in the divine life of God, fundamentally changed my current formation as a priest. It has refocused and enlivened it, putting an impetus behind my education, training, and ministry that calls for devotion and urgency. For the theology of the body is not just one theory of man among many. It is the holistic truth that reveals man to himself, and his place in the mystery of God’s saving plan. People must know about these matters. Thus, when I heard about the conference hosted by CANFP and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM, I knew I had to attend. Not only that, I knew I had to invite the two people closest to me, the people who brought me into being, my parents. The theology of the body, which employs NFP and allows it to blossom, does that to a person. It makes us want to share the Good News with others, as Sheila and Dr. Keenan did with the seminarians in 2012. And what is this good news if not that our God has invited us, not only after death, but here and now, to enter into a way of living and knowing that is healthy, enriching, and in many cases, healing. Although it may not always lead to new life, it is, nevertheless, life-giving—in other words—salvific love! Why wouldn’t I want to share this with people who are important to me? Why wouldn’t I want people to know there is a way of living and loving that mirrors the way God lives and loves? This is the question I would like to pose to you. Is there someone who can benefit from your knowledge of NFP? Or, do you feel like in order to do this—as was the case with me—you first need more experience and training in NFP and/or the theology of the body?

The conference, which took place in the Cathedral Event Center at the Archdiocese of San Francisco, was an encounter with the necessity and the responsibility we all have to learn and teach these methods, and, whenever possible, the theology and anthropology that undergirds them. I saw the need to do this firsthand and foremost in the people who attended the event. I saw that there is a direct correlation between the presence of genuine joy with people who understand, practice, and teach NFP. That’s what the conference in San Francisco left me with, not only an increase in intellectual understanding, but also a permanent connotation between these teachings that elevate and dignify stewardship of the body and fertility, and a community of people who live genuinely happy, peaceful lives. As a future priest of the Roman Catholic Church, there is nothing I want more for the world than this; to experience and embrace that joy and peace which comes from God who gave us the awesome opportunity to encounter Him and others through the gift of a body. I believe a right and thorough understanding of NFP  can contribute to this in an extraordinary way.

For this reason, I am forever grateful to Sheila and CANFP for gathering people (like seminarians) together and equipping them with the ability to image in a concrete way what NFP has to offer, not only in terms of reproductive and marital success, but more importantly, in drawing people together in a bond of truly procreative, life-giving, and in a word, God-like love.