Friday, July 25, 2008

40th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae


That's right! Today is the fortieth anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae. This encyclical has largely defined the modern pro-life movement. He talks about, mostly, love in the family and the use of contraception.

Love, he writes, is four-part: Free, total, faithful, and fruitful. If one of the four is removed or violated, the love is incomplete.

Also, he writes that contraception is immoral. Why? It omits fruitfulness, specifically procreation, from love. It is also not total becuase to withhold one's fertility is not to give oneself totally.

God's interior life of love (God is Love) is the model for all love. It is free, total, faithful, and fruitful. The Father freely gives his self to the son (free), which begets the Holy Spirt (fruitful). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are inseperable (total) and eternal (faithful). This is deep stuff and is called Trinitarian Theology. It is implicit in the former Pope's encyclical.

Here's some homework for you: Go to the Vatican site and read this monumental encyclical http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html.

May we always mind God's will to take joy in life and build a lifestyle that respects and values it.

God Bless.

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