"Human Life," Thirty-Three Years Old
Homily By Bishop Thomas Olmsted

Natural Family Planning
By Thomas Olmsted, D.D
Diocese of Wichita. Kansas
From Book: A Preachable Message
The Dynamics of Preaching NFP
Copyright 2002
Reproduced with Permission

From Catholic Advance, the Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, Friday, July 20, 2001. Reprinted with permission. (This piece was originally written for the thirty-third anniversay of Humanae Vitae, which was on July 25, 2001.)

On July 25 this year, "Human Life" reaches the age of thirty-three, that is, the encyclical of Paul VI better known by its Latin title, Humanae Vitae. Now, after more than three decades, the fruits of this prophetic encyclical are beginning to come into view. It's not unlike what happened 2000 years ago. After thirty-three years of earthly life and a public ministry that met increasing hostility, Jesus laid down his life on the cross and then rose in unexpected glory. That first Easter morning, Christ brought new life to the world. Even though very few perceived the new beginning, human history had been transformed; the long reign of sin had ended redemption was at hand.

The fruits of Human Life, after thirty-three years, are budding forth in a variety of places: teens are rediscovering the good news of chastity; couples are turning to Natural Family Planning, while more physicians are trained to assist them; engaged couples are finding that Catholic teaching on marriage is a source of joy, not a burden. Best of all, formerly contracepting couples are coming to a new appreciation of motherhood and fatherhood, rooted in the gifts of fertility and conjugal love.

It should not surprise us that, just when Jesus rose from the dead, many people did not initially see the wisdom of Human Life, for the teaching of Human Life is as deep a mystery as Christ Himself. Christ teaches us that what seems a cross in fact reveals a new dimension of life. Christ's self-offering on the cross remains God's gift to the human family, a gift that teaches us how sacrifice can bear great fruit.

The encyclical Human Life had been issued at ground zero of the sexual revolution, which was then sweeping across North America and Western Europe. Its message was decidedly counter culture. It predicted, with amazing accuracy, the dire consequences of a widespread contraceptive mentality increased marital infidelity, sex considered a recreational commodity, corrosion of respect for human dignity, especially of women, and the use of abortion and contraception as tools for states to control population growth without respect for the rights of couples. The catastrophic consequences of irresponsible sex are evident all around us. We see more clearly today not only that contraception is wrong, but that because contraception is wrong, it has bad consequences.

More importantly, the positive consequences of Human Life are now in evidence. For it set in motion a fresh way of thinking about conjugal love. It lifted our vision to God's perspective, to His plan to bring children into the world through a love that is total, faithful, exclusive, fruitful and truly human.

Building on the broad strokes of Human Life, John Paul II, in the early 1980s, elaborated a more comprehensive theology of sexuality and marriage. He explained how the human body - male and female - has a nuptial meaning; that is, how the body is capable of making visible what is invisible, how the body is a kind of sacrament of God's Trinitarian life. Thus, conjugal love participates in God's life and love and shares it with the world. John Paul also showed how the nuptial meaning of the body gives a sense of purpose and mission to a couple, whereas contraception falsifies the marital embrace.

The '8Os and '9Os also saw great advances in research on holistic methods of birth regulation which are verifiably more effective than contraception and fully respectful of the natural meaning of conjugal love. The knowledge we have today about a built-in set of fertility signals placed in the female body by our Creator liberates couples from old-fashioned methods. New holistic methods offer couples much greater knowledge of their fertility and give them medically proven natural means of cooperating with God in the procreation of human life. In addition, as John Paul II points out, family planning by observing nature's biological rhythms is "the only method of fertility regulation that respects the dignity and equality of the spouses as persons."

We stand now on the brink of a new fruitfulness. The sexual revolution that has birth control technology at its core is collapsing around us. A positive and ennobling understanding of sexuality and of marriage is emerging on the foundation of Human Life.

Thank God for the courage of Paul VI. Thank God for his prophetic wisdom. As Human Life reaches thirty-three years of age, the harsh winter of the contraceptive mentality is ending; springing forth afresh is an appreciation of sexuality as a gift from God that enriches married couples, ennobles family life, and reflects the very image of the Triune God.

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