Bishop Conley referred to the visit of Mother Teresa of
Calcutta twenty years ago and reminded his congregation about some of the
things she said;
“Love,” she told them, “has to hurt. I must be willing to
give whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to
them. This requires that I be
willing to give until it hurts.
Otherwise, there is no true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace,
to those around me.”
Mother Teresa he says, ‘believed, as do I, that much of the
world’s unhappiness and injustice begins with a disregard for the miracle of
life created in the womb of mothers.
Today, our culture rejects love when it rejects the gift of new life,
through the use of contraception’
Mother Teresa he continues said that, “in destroying the
power of giving life, through contraception, a husband or wife…destroys the
gift of love.”
Husbands and wives are made to freely offer themselves as
gifts to one another in friendship, and to share in the life-giving love of
God.
He created marriage to be unifying and procreative. To join husband and wife inseparably in
the mission of love, and to bring forth from that love something new.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Twenty years ago, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta stood
before the President of the United States, before senators and congressmen,
before justices of the United States Supreme Court. She spoke about her work among the world’s poor. She spoke about justice and
compassion. Most importantly, she
spoke about love.
“Love,” she told them, “has to hurt. I must be willing to
give whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to
them. This requires that I be
willing to give until it hurts.
Otherwise, there is no true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace,
to those around me.”[1]
Sacrifice is the language of love. Love is spoken in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who poured
out his life for us on the cross. Love is spoken in the sacrifice of the
Christian life, sharing in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. And love is spoken in the sacrifice of
parents, and pastors, and friends.
We live in a world short on love. Today, love is too often understood as romantic
sentimentality rather than unbreakable commitment. But sentimentality is
unsatisfying. Material things, and
comfort, and pleasure bring only fleeting happiness. The truth is that we are all searching for real love,
because we are all searching for meaning.
Love—real love—is about sacrifice, and redemption, and
hope. Real love is at the heart of
a rich, full life. We are made for
real love. And all that we do—in
our lives, our careers, and our families, especially—should be rooted in our
capacity for real, difficult, unfailing love.
But today, in a world short on love, we’re left without
peace, and without joy.
In my priesthood, I have stood in front of abortion clinics
to offer help to women experiencing unwanted pregnancies; I have prayed with
the neglected elderly; and I have buried young victims of violence. I have seen the isolation, the
injustice, and the sadness that comes from a world short on love. Mother Teresa believed, as do I, that
much of the world’s unhappiness and injustice begins with a disregard for the
miracle of life created in the womb of mothers. Today, our culture rejects love when it rejects the gift of
new life, through the use of contraception
Mother Teresa said that, “in destroying the power of giving
life, through contraception, a husband or wife…destroys the gift of love.”
Husbands and wives are made to freely offer themselves as
gifts to one another in friendship, and to share in the life-giving love of
God.
He created marriage to be unifying and procreative. To join husband and wife inseparably in
the mission of love, and to bring forth from that love something new.
Contraception robs the freedom for those possibilities.
God made us to love and to be loved. He made us to delight in the power of
sexual love to bring forth new human beings, children of God, created with
immortal souls. Our Church has
always taught that rejecting the gift of children erodes the love between
husband and wife: it distorts the unitive and procreative nature of marriage. The use of contraception gravely and
seriously disrupts the sacrificial, holy, and loving meaning of marriage
itself.
The Church continues to call Catholic couples to unity and
procreativity. Marriage is a call to greatness—to loving as God loves—freely,
creatively, and generously. God
himself is a community of love—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christian marriage is an invitation to
imitate, and to know, and to share in the joyful freedom of God’s love, an echo
of the Holy Trinity.
_________
In 1991, my predecessor, Bishop Glennon P. Flavin, wrote
that “there can be no true happiness in your lives unless God is very much a
part of your marriage covenant. To
expect to find happiness in sin is to look for good in evil…. To keep God in
your married life, to trust in his wisdom and love, and to obey his laws…will
deepen your love for each other and will bring to you that inner peace of mind
and heart which is the reward of a good conscience.”[2]
God is present in every marriage, and present during every
marital embrace. He created
sexuality so that males and females could mirror the Trinity: forming, in their
sexual union, the life-long bonds of family. God chose to make spouses cooperators with him in creating
new human lives, destined for eternity.
Those who use contraception diminish their power to unite and they give
up the opportunity to cooperate with God in the creation of life.
As Bishop of Lincoln, I repeat the words of Bishop
Flavin. Dear married men and
women: I exhort you to reject the use of contraception in your marriage. I challenge you to be open to God’s
loving plan for your life. I
invite you to share in the gift of God’s life-giving love. I fervently believe that in God’s plan,
you will rediscover real love for your spouse, your children, for God, and for
the Church. I know that in this
openness to life, you will find the rich adventure for which you were made.
Our culture often teaches us that children are more a burden
than a gift—that families impede our freedom and diminish our finances. We live in a world where large families
are the objects of spectacle and derision, instead of the ordinary consequence
of a loving marriage entrusted to God’s providence. But children should not be feared as a threat or a burden,
but rather seen as a sign of hope for the future.
In 1995, Blessed John Paul II wrote that our culture suffers
from a “hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of
sexuality, and… a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation
as an obstacle to personal fulfilment. ”[3] Generous, life-giving spousal love is the antitode to
hedonism and immaturity: parents gladly give up frivolous pursuits and
selfishness for the intensely more meaningful work of loving and educating
their children.
In the Diocese of Lincoln, I am grateful for the example of
hundreds of families who have opened themselves freely and generously to
children. Some have been given
large families, and some have not.
And of course, a few suffer the very difficult, hidden cross of
infertility or low fertility. The
mystery of God’s plan for our lives is incomprehensible. But the joy of these families, whether
or not they bear many children, disproves the claims of the contraceptive
mentality.
Dear brothers and sisters, Blessed John Paul II reminded us
that, “man is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of
his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God.”[4]
The sexual intimacy of marriage, the most intimate kind of human friendship, is
a pathway to sharing in God’s own life.
It is a pathway to the fullness of our own human life; it is a means of
participating in the incredible love of God. Contraception impedes our share in God’s creative love. And thus it impedes our joy.
The joy of families living in accord with God’s plan
animates and enriches our community with a spirit of vitality and
enthusiasm. The example of your
friends and neighbors demonstrates that while children require sacrifice, they
are also the source of joy, meaning, and of peace. Who does not understand the great gift of a loving family?
Yes, being lovingly open to children requires sacrifice. But
sacrifice is the harbinger of true joy.
Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to be open to joy.
_________
Of course, there are some true and legitimate reasons why,
at certain times, families may discern being called to the sacrifice of
delaying children. For families with serious mental, physical, or emotional
health problems, or who are experiencing dire financial troubles, bearing
children might best be delayed.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that couples must have
“just” reasons to delay childbearing. For couples facing difficulties of
various kinds, the Church recommends Natural Family Planning: a method for
making choices about engaging in fruitful sexual relations.
Natural Family Planning does not destroy the power to give
life: instead, it challenges couples to discern prayerfully when to engage in life-giving
sexual acts. It is an integrated, organic and holistic approach to fertility
care.
Natural Family Planning is a reliable and trustworthy way to
regulate fertility, is easy to learn, and can be a source of unity for
couples. To be sure, using NFP
requires sacrifice and patience, but sacrifice and patience are not obstacles
to love, they are a part of love itself.
Used correctly, NFP forms gentle, generous husbands, and selfless,
patient wives. It can become a
school of virtuous and holy love.
Those who confine sexual intimacy to the infertile times of
the month are not engaging in contraceptive practices. They do not attempt to make a
potentially fertile act infertile.
They sacrificially abstain during the fertile time precisely because
they respect fertility; they do not want to violate it; they do not want to
treat the gift of fertility as a burden.
In some relatively rare instances, Natural Family Planning
is used by couples with a contraceptive mentality. Too often couples can choose to abstain from fertility by
default, or out of fear of the consequences of new life. I encourage all couples who use Natural
Family Planning to be very open with each other concerning the reasons they
think it right to limit their family size, to take their thoughts to God, and
to pray for his guidance. Do we let fear, anxiety, or worry determine the size
of our families? Do we entrust ourselves to the Lord, whose generosity provides
for all of our needs?
“Perfect love,” scripture teaches, “casts out fear.”[5]
Dear friends, I exhort you to openness in married life. I exhort you to trust in God’s abundant
providence.
_________
I would like to address in a special way Catholic
physicians, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. The noble aim of your profession is to
aid men and women as they live according to God’s perfect plan. Bishop Flavin
wrote that, as professionals, “you are in a position to be God’s instruments in
manifesting his truth, and his love.”[6]
No Catholic healthcare provider, in good conscience, should
engage in the practice of medicine by undermining the gift of fertility. There is no legitimate medical reason
to aid in the acts of contraception or sterilization. No Catholic physician can honestly argue otherwise.
Healthcare is the art of healing. Contraception and sterilization may never be considered
healthcare. Contraception and
sterilization denigrate and degrade the body’s very purpose. Fertility is an ordinary function of
health and human flourishing; and an extraordinary participation in God’s
creative love. Contraception and
sterilization stifle the natural and the supernatural processes of marriage,
and cause grave harm. They treat
fertility as though it were a terrible inconvenience, or even a physical defect
that needs to be treated.
Contraception attempts to prevent life from the beginning,
and when that fails, some contraception destroys newly created life. Many contraceptives work by preventing
the implantation of an embryonic human being in the uterus of his or her
mother.
Contraception is generally regarded by the medical community
as the ordinary standard of care for women. The Church’s teachings are often
regarded as being opposed to the health and well-being of women. But apart from the moral and spiritual
dangers of contraception, there are also grave physical risks to the use of
most chemical contraceptives.
Current medical literature overwhelmingly confirms that contraception
puts women at risk for serious health problems, which doctors should consider
very carefully.
Some women have health conditions that are better endured
when treated by hormonal contraceptives.
But the effects of contraception often mask the underlying conditions
that endanger women’s health.
Today, there are safe, natural means of correcting hormonal imbalances,
and solving the conditions that are often treated by contraception.
Contraception is an unhealthy standard of care. All doctors can do better.
Catholic physicians are called to help their patients and
their colleagues learn the truth about the dangers of contraception and
sterilization. The good example of
a physician who refuses to prescribe contraceptives and perform sterilizations
or a pharmacist who refuses to distribute contraceptives in spite of
antagonism, financial loss, or professional pressure is an opportunity to
participate in the suffering of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Catholic physicians and pharmacists
who evangelize their patients and colleagues through a commitment to the truth.
________
Tragically, a majority of people in our culture and even in
our Church, have used contraception.
Much of the responsibility for that lies in the fact that too few have
ever been exposed to clear and consistent teaching on the subject. But the natural consequences of our
culture’s contraceptive mentality are clear. Mother Teresa reflected that “once living love is destroyed
by contraception, abortion follows very easily.”[7] She was right.
Cultural attitudes that reject the gift of life lead very easily to
social acceptance for abortion, for no-fault divorce, and for fatherless
families. For fifty years, America
has accepted the use of contraception, and the consequences have been dire.
Dear brothers and sisters, I encourage you to read the
encyclical by Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae with your spouse, or in your
parish. Consider also Married Love
and the Gift of Life, written by the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
Dear brother priests, I encourage you to preach about the
dangers of contraception, and to visit with families in your parish about this
issue.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you have used or prescribed
contraception, the merciful love of God awaits. Healing is possible—in the sacrament of penance. If you have used or supported
contraception, I pray that you will stop, and that you will avail yourself of
God’s tender mercy by making a good heartfelt confession.
_________
Today, openness to children is rarely celebrated, rarely
understood, and rarely supported.
To many, the Church’s teachings on life seem oppressive or
old-fashioned. Many believe that
the Church asks too great a sacrifice.
But sacrifice is the language of love. And in sacrifice, we speak the language
of God himself. I am calling you,
dear brothers and sisters, to encounter Christ in your love for one
another. I am calling you to rich
and abundant family life. I am
calling you to rejoice in the love, and the sacrifice, for which you were
made. I am calling your family to
share in the creative, active love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I pray that in true sacrifice, each of you will know perfect
joy.
Through the intercession of Our Lady of the Annunciation,
the Holy Family, and in the love of Jesus Christ,
+James D. Conley
Bishop of Lincoln
March 25, 2014
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
[1] Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. National Prayer Breakfast, 1994.
[2] Glennon P. Flavin, Pastoral Letter to Catholic Couples
and Physicians. September 26, 1991
[3] Blessed John Paul II. Evangelium Vitae, 13.
[4] Ibid. 2.
[5] I John 4:18
[6] Bishop Flavin.
[7] Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. National Prayer Breakfast, 1994.
The Commission on Population and Development continued apace
at UN headquarters in New York and on Friday a number of pro-life speakers made
statement during the plenary.
