Posted March 10, 2015

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

131. NFP is premised upon the beauty and necessity of marital sexual intimacy. Because it also relies on occasional abstinence for the sake of spacing births, NFP summons couples to communication and self-mastery. Like the marriage bond itself, NFP shapes and disciplines sexual desire. The very idea of monogamy presupposes that fallen sexual men and women can patiently discipline otherwise roaming desires, and learn to treat a spouse with generosity and fidelity. In this way, the periodic abstinence required by NFP works to deepen and explore a commitment that married people have already made. NFP does not guarantee a happy marriage, nor does it exempt a marriage from all the ordinary sufferings of marriage, but NFP is an attempt to build a household on rock and not sand.

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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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