I just had to share this – it’s a message from My Pastor (yes, MY Pastor ;-) from the bulletin this week:
I am often humbled and deeply impressed with the warm reception I receive when visiting people in their homes, even people who do not know me. People show great hospitality and kindness as they welcome us priests into their houses and into their lives.
In the Letter to the Hebrews we read: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hospitality has been a virtue of great importance throughout salvation history. Abraham and Sarah were hospitable to their three guests in today’s first reading. Because of that, the couple was blessed with a son. In the Gospel, we see that Martha was hospitable to Our Lord in material things, while Mary was hospitable on a spiritual level.
When we welcome others, we show respect for Our Lord in a fundamental way. We are welcoming God’s greatest creation – human beings who are made in God’s image and likeness. This is especially true when married couples welcome new children into the world and form them for society, for the Church. A little while ago, I visited a mother in the hospital who had just delivered her fourth child. She and her husband were thrilled. But she told me that during her pregnancy, several people had said to her: “You’re crazy to have another baby! You belong on the pill!!
Children are the supreme gift of marriage. What wonderful blessings they are! And yet parents know what a real sacrifice and challenging work it is to raise children the right way. Husbands and wives should decide with God, in a spirit of responsibility and generosity, how many children, hopefully, to welcome. The method of birth regulation is among the most important decisions spouses make. The world, of course, promotes contraception, sterilization and even abortion as the only sane and reliable methods to regulate births.
By being open to life, husbands and wives show their respect for the Lord and His plan for marriage and family. Unlike the evil of contraception, the very reliable, safe and moral methods of Natural Family Planning are entirely open to life. Never does the couple using Natural Family Planning close their sexual acts to the Lord and Giver of life. God remains God. And as we see from our Scripture readings today, when we stay faithful to Our Lord, He fulfills our needs and satisfies our desires. Far from being just another technique of avoiding children like the old rhythm method, Natural Family Planning fosters those virtues that bring spouses into the right relationship with Our Lord and with one another. This is certainly to be promoted – TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!
Married couples and, in fact, all of us should imitate Abraham, Martha and Mary – receptive to God who comes to us in one another. May we be hospitable, welcoming others and even an occasional angel.
Learn more about Natural Family Planning here. Also, if you or someone you know think NFP might be the way to go, there is a study currently underway on the effectiveness of two different methods of Natural Family Planning: click here for more info ;-)
Peace out-
Filed under: Health and Fitness, Natural Family Planning, Pro-Life, Proud2bCatholic
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