I AM WRITING
with regards to the criticisms around the world levelled at the pope
and his anti-contraception message delivered during his recent visit to
Cameroon. A report in the local newspaper even cited a remark that,
whether the pope knows it or not, over 90 percent of Catholics are
using contraceptives.
Whether this statistic is true or not I do not know, but I do know that many married Catholics do try to adopt Natural Family Planning (NFP). However NFP requires discipline and correct mindset (or correct spiritual attitude) and this leads many couples to give up on NFP in favour of contraceptives. The constant criticism in the mass media regarding this Church teaching also contributes to honest Catholics who are struggling with this teaching to rationalise the use of contraceptives.
Hence it is not uncommon to find “practising Catholics” openly disagree with this teaching while adopting the rest of the Church’s teachings which do not inconvenience them too much. On the other hand, it is also not uncommon to find Catholics “giving up” on this teaching, living in silent guilt because they resort to contraception.
I think both positions do bring us closer to understanding, appreciating and experiencing the fullness of life that God and the Church intend for us. The primary mission of the Church is to teach and that is what she is doing. Whether it is about abortion, homosexuality or contraceptives, the Church teaches what the Holy Spirit guides it to teach. How can we ask the Church to change its teachings just because we (or the world) cannot (or will not) live up to it?
Yes it is very difficult, some might even say impossible, to live up to all the teachings (not only on contraception) of the Church but did not Jesus come to call the sinners and not the righteous?
It is not the number of times you fall but the number of times you pick yourself up, carry your cross and follow Him, that is important. Jesus knows that the road to heaven is not easy. He knows true conversion does not happen overnight. It is a long race during which we are bound to fall, not once, not twice but 77 times, which is why He gave us the sacrament of reconciliation to assure us that we can also come back on course anytime we want to. God does not care if we are first, second or third. He just wants us to finish the race and come home to Him.
God wants us to have faith in Him and trust in His infinite love and forgiveness. It means not expecting to understand every teaching of the Church with our human intellect but trusting that they are true while we tirelessly seek to understand the teachings we have difficulty with. God will enlighten us in His time, not ours.
Understanding God’s will and truths comes from constant prayer, reading, reflection and communion with Him and those whom He sends our way. Even His apostles who spent several years living with Jesus did not fully understand His mission on earth till after His resurrection.
Just because we may find a particular teaching difficult or maybe even impossible to follow does not mean that it is flawed.
It is one thing to say that we cannot live up to certain Church teachings because of our human weakness and completely another to say that we cannot live up to certain Church teachings so something has to be wrong with that teaching.
I remember reading a remark that the Church is out of touch with the modern world. Is this true? Or is the modern world out of touch with God?
Edmund Augustine
Loh Siew Kuan
Singapore 821105
Whether this statistic is true or not I do not know, but I do know that many married Catholics do try to adopt Natural Family Planning (NFP). However NFP requires discipline and correct mindset (or correct spiritual attitude) and this leads many couples to give up on NFP in favour of contraceptives. The constant criticism in the mass media regarding this Church teaching also contributes to honest Catholics who are struggling with this teaching to rationalise the use of contraceptives.
Hence it is not uncommon to find “practising Catholics” openly disagree with this teaching while adopting the rest of the Church’s teachings which do not inconvenience them too much. On the other hand, it is also not uncommon to find Catholics “giving up” on this teaching, living in silent guilt because they resort to contraception.
I think both positions do bring us closer to understanding, appreciating and experiencing the fullness of life that God and the Church intend for us. The primary mission of the Church is to teach and that is what she is doing. Whether it is about abortion, homosexuality or contraceptives, the Church teaches what the Holy Spirit guides it to teach. How can we ask the Church to change its teachings just because we (or the world) cannot (or will not) live up to it?
Yes it is very difficult, some might even say impossible, to live up to all the teachings (not only on contraception) of the Church but did not Jesus come to call the sinners and not the righteous?
It is not the number of times you fall but the number of times you pick yourself up, carry your cross and follow Him, that is important. Jesus knows that the road to heaven is not easy. He knows true conversion does not happen overnight. It is a long race during which we are bound to fall, not once, not twice but 77 times, which is why He gave us the sacrament of reconciliation to assure us that we can also come back on course anytime we want to. God does not care if we are first, second or third. He just wants us to finish the race and come home to Him.
God wants us to have faith in Him and trust in His infinite love and forgiveness. It means not expecting to understand every teaching of the Church with our human intellect but trusting that they are true while we tirelessly seek to understand the teachings we have difficulty with. God will enlighten us in His time, not ours.
Understanding God’s will and truths comes from constant prayer, reading, reflection and communion with Him and those whom He sends our way. Even His apostles who spent several years living with Jesus did not fully understand His mission on earth till after His resurrection.
Just because we may find a particular teaching difficult or maybe even impossible to follow does not mean that it is flawed.
It is one thing to say that we cannot live up to certain Church teachings because of our human weakness and completely another to say that we cannot live up to certain Church teachings so something has to be wrong with that teaching.
I remember reading a remark that the Church is out of touch with the modern world. Is this true? Or is the modern world out of touch with God?
Edmund Augustine
Loh Siew Kuan
Singapore 821105
