From Humanae Vitae:
17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. (...)
Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law.(...) Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.
The above was snatched from an email from Fr. Scott. Pertinent to the Health and Human Services (sic) announcement last week.
When I was a newly oiled priest, Father John would say over and over, "Humanae Vitae is prophetic. Everything the pope warned about has come true." I was an associate in a parish that adminstratively considered the document a matter of conscience and not to be trifled with.
Word association game. Mention "Humanae Vitae" to any priest over 60 and they will say "conscience".
Our RCIA class over the past few years has been challenged to do something that I don't think many of our diocesan people have been urged to do.
They. Have. To. READ. HUMANAE VITAE!
I even did it. Not bad! And very beautiful concerning the matter of love and marriage.
You have to admit that lines like these are pretty great:
Marriage, then, is far from being the effect of chance or the result of the blind evolution of natural forces. It is in reality the wise and provident institution of God the Creator, whose purpose was to effect in man His loving design. As a consequence, husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives.
Here, download. Read. It's prophetic!
