Humanae Vitae and the Law of Gradualism
Three years ago Kristina and I were really struggling with NFP. At the time we were married for six years and dealing with a surprise pregnancy, anxiety/depression, and the real life struggles of having four kids under five years old.…
Humanae Vitae: truth, accompaniment, and culpability
Therefore, it must be emphasized once more that the pastoral intervention of the Church in support of the family is a matter of urgency. Every effort should be made to strengthen and develop pastoral care for the family, which should…
Humanae Vitae: An anniversary is an awful thing to waste
?We have long thought that simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we were providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond and giving meaning to marital life. We find it difficult to…
NFP, Suffering, and Asceticism
Recently I wrote about how?NFP is not good?in and of itself, but rather can be good when used with virtue and faithfulness. I wanted to follow up that article by discussing the real suffering that many couples endure because of…
NFP is not good
I have often heard it said that natural family planning (NFP) is good. Both in the sense that practicing NFP is necessarily good for marriages, good for families, or good for growing in virtue. But also in the sense that…
Can you use NFP with a Contraceptive Mentality?
This article is an unexpected follow up to an article I wrote recently called ?The Myth of the Contraceptive Mentality.? Based on the feedback from that article I thought it would be good to dive into what exactly a contraceptive…
The Myth of the Contraceptive Mentality
If you have run in Natural Family Planning (NFP) circles you have likely come across an idea that I?m going to call (though I?m not the first person to use this term) ?providentialism.? This is the idea that Catholic couples…
What to do when NFP isn’t good enough
Recently I?ve had a few conversations with Catholic friends about family planning where they?ve opened up about their own struggles. One friend, who has several kids, said something like, ?The method we were taught failed us many times, or perhaps…
