This should be interesting...

As some of you know, I'm in the process of being trained to teach the Sympto-Thermal Method of Natural Family Planning. I have coordinated two class series (one last fall, one this past spring) in our church parish through the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The second series I taught nearly on my own with the coordinator of NFP for the archdiocese observing me. I just spoke with her about the series we have planned for my parish that begins Wednesday - apparently I'm practically on my own for this one! I'm happy and excited about this opportunity to teach, but it will be interesting when I assure these soon-to-be-married couples that the method is 99% effective in avoiding pregnancy - and that I'm pregnant.

This is always the conundrum with telling people about NFP. They are told that it is an effective method, but then they see that all the couples using NFP have kids - sometimes more than the socially-acceptable quantity of two. That's all the evidence many people need to say NFP just doesn't work. However, NFP is more than just "Catholic birth control"; it's a way of life. It's one more means within marriage of helping your spouse to Heaven - by cultivating self-control and truly chaste living. NFP is not just about avoiding having children; it's about remaining open to life while being responsible about when to become parents - whether for the first, second, or seventh time.

Here's the thing about couples who use NFP - something I've heard in the past and have experienced personally: they are so much open to life and very much aware of their God-given procreative abilities that they are almost drawn to making babies. This is difficult when they have a good reason to postpone making babies... but when there really is no good reason not to have (another) one, the attitude becomes "why not?" Thus, the large Catholic family - you know, the ones with lots of kids. For those families, every one of those children is wanted and was conceived either intentionally or with the knowledge that this act could result in a child (the obvious, natural result, which contraception has stripped from this sacred act between husband and wife).

So on the one hand, there are couples entrenched in the secular world's proclamation of the good news of contraception (whether they mean to be so entrenched or not) who come to see children as burdensome and something to be avoided; and on the other hand, there are couples who heed the call to "be fruitful and multiply" (in a responsible way for them, possibly using NFP or nothing at all) who come to see children as desirable for becoming more like God in his creative capacity and for growing in holiness.