The Holy Father explained this in a message addressed to the participants of an international congress held in Rome on the theme “Natural Regulation of Fertility and the Culture of Life.” The Vatican press office published the text today.
“It is clear,” the Pope wrote, “that when one speaks of ‘natural’ regulation, we are not referring only to respecting biological rhythms. It is a question of responding to the truth about the human person in their intimate unity of spirit, psyche and body, a unity that can never be merely reduced to an overall question of biological mechanisms.”
“Only in the context of the spouses’ reciprocal love, total and without reserve, can the moment of generating life, to which the future of mankind is tied, be lived in all its dignity,” he stated.
My Smartest Reader comments:
It’s about more than doing “IT”. It’s about more than “tab A, slot B” biology, epidemiology stats, doctrine and pat moral imperatives. That’s the easy part, and can be covered in a 2, maybe 3 hour presentation by a dynamic speaker.
The rest is an ongoing conversation — from parents, parishioners, priests, catechists, bishops — all of us.
We go through all kinds of mental gymnastics, get hyped up over “sex education” programs. Continue the conversation of when to teach the plumbing as a sidebar, please.
The centrality of that argument misses the bigger point:
“Mutual self-giving” means more than giving of oneself from navel to knees. It’s all of you, every fiber of your being, every corner of your soul.
Need a model? May I introduce you to the Ultimate Gift of Self?
His name is Christ.
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