By Fr. Thomas Grasfgaard
Homily Contest Winner – 2011
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Gen 2:18-24; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16
Perhaps the biggest craze right now is “reducing your carbon footprint”. “Buy organic” and “going green” are the new slogans of the day. Compared with 20 or even 10 years ago, it’s clear that there has been a surge in the availability of organic foods and number of health stores that carry only 100% whole foods and products. No company or business that promotes products and practices that are “100% sustainable”, “all organic”, or “not tested on animals”, are ever afraid to admit of that fact and to make sure that every consumer knows it.
What’s behind this latest craze? It’s clear that people are looking for a healthier, “greener” alternative that is safer for the environment and that is more wholesome, more nutritious for their bodies. This is certainly a noble endeavor; we can’t trade in our bodies for new ones or reverse poor decisions regarding our bodies in the past. After all, the thought of putting harmful chemicals, which damage or even destroy our bodies probably isn’t the most pleasant thought for any of us.
There is one place in the world where “going green” hasn’t been in style for 50 years: the woman’s body. It’s no secret that every year, millions of women are given the contraceptive “pill” or other devices that deliberately damage her God-given reproductive system, its rhythms and its natural cycles. Under the guise of “women’s health care”, contraceptives, in many cases, work by flooding the her body with harmful, even lethal levels of chemicals that have been scientifically proven to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, a variety of cancers including cervical, uterine, and breast cancer, in addition to the risk of damaging her body so much that she will be unable to conceive in the future, or encountering severe medical complications if she does. Even the World Health Organization admits to these findings. What honest consumer would shop in a store that sold this product?
From the very beginning the Church has spoken out against the use of contraceptives, not because of a rigid dogmatism or because her sexual teachings are trapped in the Middle Ages, though many nowadays like to think so. No, the Church has continually spoken out against contraceptives because they are bad medicine, reflect bad science, and wreak havoc not only in a woman’s body, but also on her emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and on her dignity and beauty as a child of God. Pope Paul VI recognized this in his letter Humanae Vitae, which said, quite prophetically, that a contraceptive culture would lead to a general degradation of women. If we are honest, it would be hard to convince ourselves that today women are looked upon not for who they are or for their unique and dignified place in the world, but are objectified for what they are.
And what do contraceptives say to a women? Her reproductive system is a disease that needs to be “healed” with unnatural and unsafe levels of harmful hormones or chemicals. Contraceptives say that the body needs to be controlled and manipulated at all costs to physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
In the Book of Genesis we just heard how God created woman to be a suitable partner to man. Women, you are especially valued and honored by the Church for who you are. Each of you is a priceless and irreplaceable gift to the world. It is out of a genuine love for you, women, and for your wives, men, that I propose to you a method that is 100% natural and safe for a woman’s body in harmony with the Church’s teaching on marriage and sexuality. More and more couples today are experiencing healthier and stronger relationships because together, as a couple, they understand the woman’s body is a temple and not a disease. Couples are living the many joys and life-long benefits of incorporating natural fertility methods into their marriage. These all-natural methods uphold the dignity of human sexuality and marriage and greatly increases effective communication between couples. But if this weren’t enough to convince you, it’ a method that, quite simply, doesn’t put poison into a woman’s body.
A tremendous amount of scientific research has gone into studying the female reproductive system and its natural cycles, which does not include techniques to shut down or damage her body. The Creighton Model is one such all-natural method which is the fruit of years of study, and the effectiveness of this method has been scientifically verified in leading medical journals. Most importantly, however, this method of natural fertility care has brought a wholeness and a purity to thousands of couples. Its effectiveness has been confirmed not simply by scientific data, but by couples who are experiencing anew the freshness of living a pure, holy, and uninhibited relationship. The Creighton Model listens specifically to the woman’s body, which can be said for absolutely no method of artificial contraception, which treat all women equally, regardless of her body is saying. Natural fertility care can even give early detection of potentially severe medical conditions that would have otherwise gone unnoticed when using the birth control pill. This natural method can be used to either achieve or delay pregnancy, and is not a contraceptive method because it involves a loving communication and is joint decision between spouses. Also, natural fertility care is comparatively much less expensive than birth control pills. There are numerous benefits to using natural fertility care for the body and for marriages.
And husbands, natural fertility care is for you, too. You have an invaluable role to play; you’re half the equation! Men, your wives are temples, a fruitful vine as we heard in today’s Responsorial Psalm. She is not an object and her reproductive system is not a disease. She is an unrepeatable, single act of God’s wonderful creation. Men, I trust none of you would want your wife to be littering her body with unsafe levels of hormones and chemicals. It is your duty as a husband and a man to protect your wife. Allowing these foreign substances to poison your wife’s body under your watch is hardly offering her any protection whatsoever. Your wife needs you and she needs your protection. After all, her life may depend on it.
God has given the Church and us a tremendous gift in natural fertility care, which is a beautiful window into the unmistakable, unrepeatable beauty of the human person. Don’t allow the culture to tell you what’s right when it comes to your health and the health of your relationship. In the end, what will we be able to say of our lives and how will we feel about our decisions? Did we allow God into our lives, into our marriages, into our relationships, or did we shut Him out? In the back of church are reference materials on the Creighton Model fertility method and you’ll also notice that in the bulletin this week there are several local organizations and couples listed who are eager and waiting to assist couples in bringing beauty, wholeness, and most importantly, God, back into your marriage. The decision is yours to make, but the decision will make all the difference in the world.