Spirituality of NFP

So you see, it all fits together: respect for God’s plan for marriage leads to a greater respect for life; living that plan cannot but engender a love for God, and therefore a desire for God, and for friendship with Christ; friendship with Christ naturally leads one to seek incorporation as a member of Christ’s Body, the Church. If a couple is living God’s plan for their marriage—right at the deepest, most intimate level—they cannot help but be Christ-centered. Responsible parenthood is antithetical to selfishness.

This, then, is not just a technique, another method of avoiding (or attaining) pregnancy, with its own advantages and disadvantages. For those couples “who for serious reasons and with due respect to moral precepts, decide not to have additional children for either a certain or an indefinite period of time. (Humanae Vitae, 10), NFP is a part—an essential part—of responsible parenthood, for responsible parenthood is a whole spirituality of marriage.

• It’s a spirituality of openness, openness to life, and therefore, openness to God.
• It’s a spirituality of communion, communion in the sense of that communication that takes place at the deepest level of the relationship, communication facilitated by NFP because it keeps the couple in touch with that deepest level of their relationship.
• It’s a spirituality of perseverance, working at keeping one’s marriage strong, living by that old adage that “if you want your marriage to work, you have to work at your marriage”.
• It’s a spirituality of confidence, confidence in the truth as revealed by Christ and taught by the Church. The teaching of the Church is nothing to be embarrassed about. On the contrary, this is the truth! As Archbishop Chaput once said in a pastoral letter when he was the Archbishop of Denver, “To be embarrassed by Church teaching is to be embarrassed by Christ’s teaching.” And what is the result? He says, “The irony is that the people who dismissed Church teaching  in the 1960’s soon discovered that they h ad subverted their own ability to pass anything along to their children.” Ultimately, life ends up empty and meaningless.
• It’s a spirituality of generosity, generosity towards each other, towards the family, towards the community and the Church. It is, therefore, a spirituality of, yes, stewardship—-of giving of time, talent, and treasure. The experience of parish priests who have promoted NFP in their parishes is that the NFP couples are among the most generous tithers in their parish.