MADISON — “It’s time! Say ‘Yes’ to God’s plan for married love” is the theme of this year’s Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a national educational campaign of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to celebrate God’s vision for marriage and promote Natural Family Planning.
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for the safe, natural, and effective methods of both achieving and avoiding pregnancy. NFP education courses teach couples how to observe and interpret the woman’s signs of fertility and infertility. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, NFP methods “respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom” (CCC, no. 2370).
The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week are July 23 to 29. These dates highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25) that articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, marriage, conjugal love, and responsible parenthood.
The Diocese of Madison’s Marriage and Family Program’s NFP Coordinator, Vicki Braun, joins with the U.S. bishops in highlighting the benefits of NFP, “What a gift NFP has been for me and my husband, Rich! Rich learned to respect me in both my fertile and infertile times. We were able to discuss our desire to hope for or postpone a pregnancy.“Above all, he participated in the daily fertility observations, making NFP a true mutual method of family planning. Can any other family planning method boast of building up marriages while preserving both the unitive and procreative potential of the marital act?”
Each parish will be receiving materials to promote and teach about God’s plan for married love during NFP Awareness Week. Encourage your pastor to speak on this topic the week of July 23 to 29. For more information, call: 608-495-6117 or visit http://www.madisondiocese.org/nfp-methods
A schedule of diocesan NFP education courses can be viewed at http://www.madisondiocese.org/classes-and-registration
To learn NFP in the comfort of your home, contact the NFP Coordinator, Vicki Braun, at [email protected]