Hearing John Paul II's three barks in section one
06/14/2025
We have reached now the penultimate
section of the entire Theology of the Body (only one to go). All the preceding
pages were essentially John Paul plowing fertile ground so that the Word of
God, the Sower’s seed (Mt 13, Mk 4, Lk. 😎 could be planted in it
and bear much fruit. And the pope-saint will not allow any contraceptives to
frustrate the fecundity and yield an abundant harvest.
The Holy Father wants to accomplish
three objectives in this first section of chapter three named “The Ethical
Problem”, or according to our metaphor in this chapter he is a guard dog that
barks three times. First, the pope insists that the teaching about
contraception proceeds from a deeply pastoral care and concern for Christians.
Second, he shows how the teaching
on contraception is built on the whole preceding Theology of the Body, and
stands as its culmination point. And third, he believes that even though the
teaching on contraception feels daunting, indeed, like way of the cross, it is
the surest road to follow Jesus.
First John Paul admits that human
sexuality and regulating births is a genuinely vexing question and has
far-reaching ramifications. Still it is precisely because the Church takes
these challenges so seriously that she reiterates her unbroken doctrine against
contraception. Consider the pope’s pastoral perspective:
[The Church’s teaching about
contraception] is intended to be a response to the questions of contemporary
men and women…Those who believe that the [Second Vatican] Council and the
encyclical [Humanae Vitae] do not sufficiently take into account the
difficulties of concrete life do not understand the pastoral concern that stood
at the origin of these documents. Pastoral concern means seeking the true good
of man, promoting the values impressed by God on the human person (623, 625)
That is, Paul VI and John Paul II
are not preaching from some lofty ivory tower far removed from the problems of
common Christians.
In fact, the opposite is true, both
are keenly aware of exactly what is at stake. If the popes allowed Christians
to behave as they pleased – indiscriminately following their erotic passions –
and use contraceptives without censure, the popes would analogously be like
parents who negligently let their children eat junk food and ignore the harm it
inflicts on their physical health.
Think about it: contraceptives
poison our souls like excessive cookies and cakes are inimical to our bodies.
They may taste pleasant at first, but in the end they rob us of our physical
and moral health. "Pastoral parents" make their children aware of of
that danger and protect them from it. "Permissive parents" allow
their children to consume whatever their disordered hearts desire because they
are like dogs that don’t bark.
Secondly, John Paul asserts that
the morally relevant reason that contraception is wrong is because of who the
human person is, that is, he or she is created “in the image and likeness of
God” (Gn 1:26). Recall how the pope painted a picture of man in the Garden of
Eden by describing him as enjoying three unique experiences: Original Solitude,
Original Unity, and Original Nakedness.
If we wanted to combine those
original experiences into one concept, we might say Adam and Eve formed –
especially in their sexual intimacy – a “communion of persons.” Further, that
human communion of spouses reflects – albeit by analogy – the Holy Trinity, the
infinite and divine Communion of Persons. And just as God’s communion is always
loving and fruitful – the Holy Spirit is the eternal Fruit or the love of the
Father and the Son – so spousal love is intrinsically and necessarily both
unitive and procreative.
The pope ties together several
strands of his foregoing arguments, and states:
As ministers of a sacrament that is
constituted through consent and perfected by conjugal union [the wedding words
and works], man and woman are called to express the mysterious “language” of
their bodies in all the truth that properly belongs to it…According to the
criterion of this truth…the conjugal act “means” not only love but also
potential fruitfulness, and thus it cannot be deprived of its full and adequate
meaning by means of artificial interventions. Such a violation of the inner
order of the conjugal communion, a communion that plunges its roots into the
very order of the person, constitutes the essential evil of the contraceptive
act (632, 633).
In other words, spouses should not
use artificial means to block their sexual fruitfulness for the same reason
that in the heart of the Holy Trinity nothing blocks their essential love and
eternal fruitfulness. Until you can behold each human person, especially a
husband and wife, as a child of God, you will not catch the “essential evil of
contraception.”
Let me bring this a little closer
to home. I adopted my dog Apollo when he was 4 months old. The vet told me I
should wait until he was between 6 to 8 months old before having him neutered,
by removing his testicles. Poor guy. Now that is a morally good thing to do to
Apollo, but it would be a morally very bad thing to do to Fr. John. Why?
Because Fr. John is created in the image and likeness of God, and Apollo is
not; although he think he is a god because he’s named Apollo.
The difference between me and
Apollo highlights “the essential evil of the contraceptive act.” This
difference between man and dog, and this dignity between man and God, is
precisely what the pope has been at pains to demonstrate in the preceding 600
pages. And the reason people continue to use contraception is because they can
neither acknowledge that difference nor do they appreciate that dignity.
Thirdly, John Paul gets to the
“brass tacks”, the hard part of not using contraceptives, namely, periodic
abstinence. He states the salient points of Paul VI’s encyclical: “Humanae
Vitae underlines several times that “responsible parenthood" is connected with
a continual effort and commitment and that it can be realized only at the price
of a precise [asceticism or self-discipline] (see HV 21)” (637).
When I meet with young couples for
marriage preparation I encourage them to learn and use Natural Family Planning.
I present NFP by asking them: “In most forms of contraception, which person
makes all the sacrifices?” The young girl immediately raises her hand with a
wry frown on her face. She take the pill, the IUD, the Depovera, the diaphragm,
etc. I go on: “And when one person is carrying all the weight and making all
the sacrifices, it can create some imbalance, and even resentment.”
But then I add: “The reason NFP is
so good and healthy for marriage is that even though for 7 to 10 days you
cannot have sex (and that is hard), you both have to tighten your belt and suck
it up together. By sharing the burdens and carrying your crosses together, you
build a stronger marriage.” By the way, couples who faithfully practice Natural
Family Planning have a virtually zero divorce rate.
Put differently, couples who avoid
using contraception are avoiding consuming moral poison. Instead, by practicing
periodic abstinence, they are doing the ethical work-out called Natural Family
Planning, and building the muscles to sustain a strong marriage. And most
importantly, they are shining examples of the love and fruitfulness, the unity
and procreativity, of the Most Holy Trinity. Woof! Woof! Woof!
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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