Denver Catholic

BY ROXANNE KING A true openness to love, life and ultimately, God's will, are at the heart of the Cath- olic Church's teaching on procreation. Unfortunately, recent media reports of court battles over the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act are an ex- ample of how Church teachings on procreation are often por- trayed negatively by focusing on what the Church opposes rath- er than on the positives of what the Church promotes, which is a complete self-giving in the marital embrace that is both unitive and procreative. To highlight the Church's teaching the Denver Catholic Register spoke to three cou- ples who adhere to it and to Carrie Keating, Natural Family Planning, Family Life and Mar- riage specialist for the Denver Archdiocese. Contraception vs. NFP Catholic marriage is based on the concept of "self-gift," said Keating, which differs from secular society's emphasis on "self-fulfi llment." "Because we are created in God's image and God is love, we are called to mirror that same love in our marriage relation- ship," she explained. God doesn't hold anything back from his children and the Church teaches that couples are not to hold anything back from each other in marriage, includ- ing their fertility. "The wider culture is more about how the individual is ful- fi lled through the marriage re- lationship or how they can cre- ate or control the life that they desire," Keating said. "More and more couples are choos- ing to not have children and are turning to contraception and sterilization. They are cutting themselves off from the true meaning of marital love that they deeply desire." While secular society pro- motes the use of contraception, which blocks and can even abort pregnancy, the Church advocates the use of natu- ral family planning as a way for couples to understand the natural cycles of fertility and infertility that occur within the woman's body. The Church per- mits the use of NFP because it is not contraceptive. Whether a couple uses it at times to post- pone or achieve a pregnancy, every act of intercourse is open to the possibility of life. "Even when a couple uses NFP to space or delay a pregnancy, INDEX Archbishop's Column ......................2 The Catholic Difference ..................4 Marriage Missionaries ....................4 Letters to the Editor .......................4 Seniors: Jubilarians ....................... 10 Nun of the Above quiz ...................13 Bulletin Board ................................. 14 Service Directory ...................... 14-15 Love that is overfl owing PHOTO PROVIDED SARAH AND BRIAN McAdam delight in their daughter Elizabeth on the day of her baptism in 2012. The couple used natural family planning to help overcome fertility issues and conceive their child, who is now 2 years old. JULY 30, 2014 114 Years of Service to the Gospel Volume XC - No. 26 www.DenverCatholicRegister.org I Follow us on INSIDE CENTRO SAN JUAN DIEGO PHOTO BY BERNARD GRANT/DCR ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY PAGE 12 Saving the last Catholic-run thrift store in the state PAGE 2 Archdiocese, Regis U partner to enrich growing Hispanic ministry at parishes PAGE 3 Attendance, confessions climb mile-high at Steubenville of the Rockies event See NFP, Page 8 PHOTO BY JULIE FILBY/DCR

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