I was working on getting some excerpts out of that FAMILIA book I borrowed from a friend and finished a while back when, lo and behold, I came across this question. Just why is contraception wrong? Isn’t the Catholic Church a bit…outdated?

Why, then, is contraception wrong? It is wrong because of the creative and sovereign presence of God in each act of human love. The married couple is never alone in bed. God is with them, and when a child is conceived (who may be wanted or not), it is never without God’s direct involvement. It is His presence alone that makes the act into a form of blessing which each bestows upon the other. The act of love made physically sterile by contraception may still be comforting, or in some other way psychologically beneficial. It may be unselfish (done for the sake of the other, not the self), but it is no longer a channel of the grace that is characteristic of marriage. Contraception works against the essence and nature of the sacrament.

The whole supernatural dimension of sex is cut off by contraception, for in the end it is God who is the target of the contraceptive. By using it, the couple intends to prevent God’s creating the child He would otherwise create. After all, if God were not going to create a child, and they knew so for sure, they would not resort to contraception. They think He might, and they intend to prevent His doing so. Whether they realize it or not, this couple is trying to have sex without God, to ‘push God out of the bed.’

From “Renaissance Through the Family” by Stratford Caldecott
Printed in God’s Plan for Marriage and Family: A Study Guide of Familiaris Consortio
(Published by FAMILIA)

Having God in bed with you…well, I guess if you think about it, He’s there whether you want Him there or not. So…for anyone who’s wondered, and struggled, I ask you to pray. I do not post this here to judge anyone; I post it here to gently share a truth, one that I can’t help but see as beautiful.

God in bed with me?!? He loves me that much?!?

Yep.

Tags: Catholic, Christian, Faith & Reflection, Quotes