theology of the body Archives

MyParishNFP.org: Fertility and Faith Come Together

Written by Melissa Gorley. Couple to Couple League has launched a dynamic, one-stop parish outreach initiative called myparishNFP.org. With resources for clergy, parish staff, and couples and families gathered in one site, it has never been easier to access trusted video and textual materials, classes, and personalized support for navigating fertility with faith. At myparishNFP.org,…

Humanity- The Crown of Creation

Written by Melissa Gorley In our postpartum season with each of our first two children, I wanted to use cloth diapers. They are more economical in the long run; less waste is better for the environment. My mom used them. I tried … but the laundering! I was a busy young mom, struggling with breastfeeding…

Eucharistic Abstinence and NFP

Guest post by Theology of the Body enthusiast Katrina J. Zeno, MTS This also appears in the May/June 2020 issue of Family Foundations. A funny thing happened on the way to Easter this year – Lent became even more penitential. Without our consent, public Catholic masses were suspended in many dioceses in the U.S. and…

Twitter User Delivers Outstanding Defense of NFP

Social media’s not exactly designed for important conversations. Between the anonymous accounts and the trolls, it can be hard to tell what is real and important — after all, much of our approval-addicted society values likes over content. If regular social media is bad, Twitter is even worse. It’s the drug of choice for people…

The Incarnation of Marital Love

We are about to, once again, celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. The Incarnation is a wonderful gift we have been given: God became man to make Himself known to us. His birth was the necessary start to his mission to redeem the world and reconcile us with God. He came and taught…

St. Jean Vianney and NFP

I’m sure I’m not the only parish priest who tends to daydream when thinking of what happened in the village of Ars during the pastorate of Fr. Jean Vianney. In 1818 when he was first assigned the parish was lukewarm, with at most a few people at daily Mass and hardly any regular Communicants. By…

Why the Catholic Church is against Contraception

Humanae Vitae Giving Day 2018 * * * by Jason Evert Contraception is nothing new; history records people using various methods of birth control four thousand years ago. Ancient people swallowed potions to cause temporary sterility; they used linens, wool, or animal skins as barrier methods; they fumigated the uterus with poison to…

From Humanae Vitae to Theology of the Body

Humanae Vitae Giving Day 2018 We are very glad to share this excerpt from Christopher West’s newest book which he debuted at our conference earlier this month, Eclipse of the Body: How We Lost Sight of the Meaning of Sex, Gender, Marriage, and Family and How to Regain It. * * * by Christopher West Soon after…

50 Reasons to Read Humanae Vitae

It’s the 50th anniversary of one of the most ground-shaking, pot-stirring, life-giving documents the Church has released in recent history. In 31 short paragraphs, soon-to-be-Saint Pope Paul VI defended the Church’s unchangeable teaching on contraception and laid the groundwork that would inspire a certain Cardinal Wojtyla to pen the Theology of the Body. So what’s…

4 Ways NFP is Different from Contraception

Humanae Vitae Giving Day 2018 * * * by Professor Janet E. Smith On the 50th year anniversary of Humanae Vitae, let’s take a moment to consider the differences between NFP and contraception. Some people think they are essentially the same because both are used by couples who want to have sexual intercourse but who…