Posted March 11, 2015

See the daily excerpt from the preparatory catechesis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”

132. As the Church predicted nearly 50 years ago, contraception not only undermines marriages, but has other harmful side effects in society as well.120 Ubiquitous contraception means that few are in the habit of abstinence and sexual self-control. In this way, contraception has made celibacy much less plausible to modern people and thereby made marriage or other types of romantic coupling seem virtually inevitable. When that happens, all of a community’s social life is distorted. And insofar as contraception drains celibacy of its plausibility, it contributes to the shortage of young priests and vowed religious. Contraception also makes sex outside of marriage (whether premarital or extramarital) appear superficially more plausible, as if sexual intimacy could exist without consequences. And, of course, many of the same arguments for childless sex that seek to justify contraception apply just as well, but with even uglier and more brutal results, to permissive abortion.

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In its introduction, the document says its aim is to present “Catholic teaching in a way that is fresh, insightful, and accessible to contemporary Catholics and all people of good will.” The catechesis “offers a narrative beginning with our creation, soberly noting our fall and the challenges we face, but emphasizing God’s plan for our salvation. Love is our mission, and it is by loving God and one another that we will be fully alive.”

Each day in CatholicPhilly.com’s World Meeting of Families section you can reflect on the official Catholic teaching on the family presented in the catechesis, pray a special prayer together as a family or individually, and stay on top of breaking news about the events coming Sept. 22-27, 2015.

Order the catechesis for your home via Our Sunday Visitor, and visit WorldMeeting2015.org for more information on the events.

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