Denver Catholic

2 FEBRUARY 10-23, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Archbishop's Page PHOTO OF THE WEEK @ArchbishopDen Feb. 2 Catholic Church's teaching on sexuality - light in the darkness that brings joy to those who live it out. On this Feast of the Presenta- tion of the Lord, my pas- toral letter celebrating 50 years of #HumanaeVitae & how it still applies today. http://bit.ly/2DR9Tc5 +sja Sister Faustina, principal of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School, has her head in the game during a teachers vs. students basketball game Feb. 1 as part of the school's Catholic Schools Week activities. PHOTO BY JASON WEINRICH ARCHBISHOP'S SCHEDULE FEB. 10: Transitional Diaconate Ordination, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10 a.m.) FEB. 11: Mass, St. Therese Parish, Aurora (10 a.m.), Bilingual Mass, St. Therese, Aurora (12 p.m.) FEB. 17: Rite of Election, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10 a.m.) FEB. 18: Mass, Spirit of Christ, Arvada (10:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m.) FEB. 23: Regional V Encuentro, Phoenix, AZ Published by the Archdiocese of Denver, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210. Denver Catholic (USPS 557-020) is published bi-weekly, except monthly in January. Denver Catholic is printed by Prairie Mountain Publishing, LLC in Boulder. Periodical postage paid in Denver, CO. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $50 a year in Colorado; $57 per year out of state. Foreign countries: $57 surface, all countries, 6-8 weeks for delivery; $135 air, all other countries (average). Mexico, $63 air; Canada, $70 air. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Denver Catholic, Circulation Dept., 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or email circulation@archden.org. CIRCULATION: denvercatholic.org/circulation General Manager KARNA SWANSON Business Manager MICHAEL O'NEILL Archbishop's Column Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila The splendor of love banishes darkness W e live in a culture that is very confused about love, particularly the sexual aspect of love. This confusion, com- bined with our fallen human nature, is deeply hurting many people, but God's love and his plan for human sexuality shines a brilliant light into this dark- ness. To share these beautiful truths and to help guide the people of north- ern Colorado, I have published a pasto- ral letter called The Splendor of Love. This coming July will mark 50 years since Blessed Paul VI issued his encyclical Humanae Vitae and the aim of The Splendor of Love is to celebrate the gift of that teaching and to a‚ rm the great beauty of the Church's con- sistent teaching throughout the cen- turies on married love. Since Humanae Vitae was pub- lished 50 years ago, American society has experienced both positive and negative developments. On the positive side, the Church's teaching on human sexuality has been deepened by the insights of Humanae Vitae, St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body and advances made in Natu- ral Family Planning. On the negative side, we have wit- nessed the fulfi llment of Blessed Paul VI's predictions about how widespread use of contraceptives would lower moral standards, harm relationships between men and women, and be used as a coercive tool by governments. We have also experienced things that the Holy Father didn't foresee: A spike in abortions, the spread of STDs and a decline in birth and marriage rates. More recently, the widespread avail- ability of pornography and a hook-up culture facilitated by improved com- munications methods have contrib- uted to further turning our sexuality into a kind of consumable product or form of entertainment. It is precisely for such a wounded and distorted world that Jesus was born. In Christ, the love of God became incarnate and illuminates our lives today, radiating through our families and into society. The Church's teaching on human sexuality changes lives, as I experi- enced when I was Bishop of Fargo. One day I received a letter from a young woman which said: "I am writing to you today to thank you and to ask you a question. I have never met you. When I was told that we would have to take a full course of NFP over a 3-4-month period for our marriage preparation, I was not happy. However, after the course, which included the Theology of the Body, I was fi lled with joy, and the question I have for you, bishop, is: Why did I not receive this valuable teaching in high school? It would have saved me much heartache and confu- sion in my college years. I have shared the teaching with my younger sister who is in high school so she doesn't make the same mistakes I made." The message she received was that her sexuality is a gift, and that properly used, it refl ects the love of the Trinity, giving her great dignity. Furthermore, the "language" of the marital act communicates to her spouse that her love involves her whole being, it holds nothing back, is faithful and is fruitful. Although the secular culture says that there is no objective truth, we are made for the truth, even if living according to the divine truths about sexuality is challenging. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete" (John 15:11). Many in our culture consider the Church's teaching to be bad news, a burden and source of repression, but we must help them see by the wit- ness of our joy and true freedom that it will help them overcome the many burdens and wounds that follow from broken families and sexuality. Jesus desires our happiness and asks us to share it with others. None of this is possible without fi rst knowing and experiencing the love of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We must fortify ourselves with the grace he gives us in the sacraments and prayer and seek ongoing conversion. With this solid foundation, the splen- dor of God's love can shine even more brightly in our hearts and enable us to imitate the generous, sacrifi cial love found at the heart of the Trinity, and at the heart of the Cross. It gives us the grace to live like Christ, to embrace our suš erings by uniting them to his cross, and to fi nd true happiness in giving ourselves away in love. May God give you courage, perse- verance and joy in living out his plan for married love and human sexuality! To read Archbishop Aquila's pastoral letter visit: archden. org/arch bishop/ pastoral- letters.

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