Wednesday, July 25, 2007

NFP, the new cool

Did anyone else see the new NFP advertising campaign for Natural Family Planning Awareness Week (currently happening) organized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops? I am so tickled at how incredibly modern, sophisticated, upbeat and trendy it is, and all conforming with Catholic teaching on marriage and procreation. See, Catholicism can be hip! I want to order a poster and put it on my wall, just so I can be a part of this wonderful and exciting project. Just as good is the poster from 2005. I am so glad they decided to use the picture of me and HeSaid. We are just so into NFP, and I think it really comes through in our picture.
That said, kudos to Bishop Lori for encouraging his diocese to participate in this exciting campaign. That Betty Anne Casaretti, head of their Family Life Ministry, is a real hot shot and totally on the ball. This is generally true of Bishop Lori's entire operation, and demonstrates why he is a rising star in American Catholicism (whatever that is). Check out the website for the Diocese of Bridgeport (and Bishop Lori's blog). It includes homily notes, prayers, links, etcetera related to NFP.

I have to admit, that an enlightened advertising campaign sponsored by a national Catholic organization is more thrilling to me than even the pope's montu proprio last week permitting a more liberal use of the 1960's version of the Latin Mass. I suggest that is because of where I see the battle lines drawn in today's society. No longer is it Protestant vs. Catholic, as in my grandparent's generation, or liberal vs. traditional Catholicism, as in my parent's generation. Those are side shows compared to the secular humanism vs. religious battles being fought today. No longer welcome in the public square, people of faith who wish to speak their mind or influence opinion in the political, social and work arenas are forced to leave their religion at the door, so to speak. Our reference to God and His Providence hold little weight today. The effectiveness of those references have been squandered by scandal and self imposed religious ignorance. To be persuasive, we should always provide social science evidence to support our religious assertions (ie: marriage helps women and children, the poor need our support, abortion is bad for society, etc.). After all, the Second Vatican Council authoritatively wrote, "Methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God." (Gaudium et Spes, 36). But now, people of faith no longer compete on a level playing field in public discourse with other "religions", like secular humanism, consumerism, paganism, socialism, etc. These religions are given a "leg up" because they are not labeled as such. But they are deities in our society, with new monuments built each day (and have more followers in CT than Jesus). They are savy, have control of our media and schools. But Jesus advised us to be as innocent as sheep but still wear leopard prints, or something like that. The point is that we must avail ourselves to hip and trendy advertising campaigns to reach the flock in this modern time, and I applaud, enthusiastically, and loudly, this NFP campaign by the USCCB and the Diocese of Bridgeport. Hurray!

2 comments:

Linda said...

Thanks for such a great plug for our NFP Ministry in the Diocese of Bridgeport, and our friend Betty Anne. She has breathed new life into our ministry. Working in conjunction with the Joy-Filled Marriage Prep Program has helped us fuse TOB and NFP just the way JP wanted us to!

Please pray for our Bishop and the Diocese of Bridgeport!

Anonymous said...

when will god give us a bishop who will listen to rome and stop the insane litergical abuses that take place in most of our churchs such as both westport churchs.