Chastity Mass observes anniversary of ‘Humanae Vitae’

Natural Family Planning teachers Ann and Mike Green, members of St. Alphonsus Parish in Zionsville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, kneel in prayer with their children, Mary, John Paul and Jimmy, during the Mass for chastity on July 25 in the chapel of St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. The liturgy was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Diocese of Lafayette and Couple to Couple League of Greater Indianapolis. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

Forty years to the day after Pope Paul VI promulgated “Humanae Vitae,” Catholics committed to Church teachings on the sanctity of human life prayerfully observed the anniversary of this prophetic papal encyclical during a July 25 Mass in the chapel at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis.

Father Brian Dudzinski, pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, was the celebrant for the liturgy then presided during exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The anniversary Mass for single and married Catholics from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Diocese of Lafayette was held as part of “In His Presence—A Call to Chastity,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ national observance of Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week.

It was sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Family Ministries, archdiocesan Office for Pro-Life Ministry, the Pastoral Office for Parish Ministries in the Lafayette Diocese and the Couple to Couple League of Greater Indianapolis.

After the liturgy, two married couples who practice Natural Family Planning and teach NFP classes discussed the

God-centered and Church-approved method of spacing children in marriage.

St. Luke the Evangelist parishioners Matt and Julie Miller of Indianapolis said they brought their young daughters, Molly and Sarah, to the evening Mass and Benediction because they believe in the importance of praying together as a family.

“We’ve been NFP teachers for about five years now and have taught many couples several series of classes,” Julie Miller explained during a reception after the Mass.

“If you can seek out the truth—and the truth really is there—and when you actually live NFP and follow the teachings of the Church, it’s like a puzzle piece,” she said. “Everything else just opens up from that. Other Church teachings unfold because of that.”

Matt Miller, who proclaimed the first reading during the Mass, said they have experienced “a wide variation in responses” from engaged and married couples who register for NFP classes due to secular influences prevalent in popular culture.

“Some people you can tell have embraced it before coming to class,” he said, “and they’re on fire about it—they’ve very enthusiastic—and those are the people who are easy to teach.

“But it’s somewhat challenging—because we live in a culture that does not promote NFP—to try and reach the couples who come with many preconceived [negative] notions,” he said. “You are trying to teach them the faith and to give them the truth of the Church, and to do that in a charitable and generous way without being judgmental or really seeing the fruits of our work a lot of times.”

In those challenging situations, the Millers said, “we just pray that we’re planting seeds that will bear fruit later.”

Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishioners John and Judi Phillips of Carmel brought their youngest son, 4-year-old Andrew, to the Mass to pray for greater respect for chastity in secular society.

They teach the Creighton model of Natural Family Planning in the Lafayette Diocese, and also have two older children, Josh, 15, and Lauren, 10.

John Phillips said practicing NFP and teaching the classes have strengthened their marriage.

“Celebrating the sacrament [of the Eucharist] is always a reminder of our marriage vows,” he said. “It’s nice to celebrate Mass as a family. We want to show Andrew how it should be when he is grown up, and to teach him the faith.”

Judi Phillips said celebrating the Eucharist as a family is “our foundation” in life as Catholics.

She said practicing Natural Family Planning has blessed them as a couple and helped them learn how to communicate with each other more effectively.

“I see more of a sense of willingness from both of us to be serving the other person more … and really the idea of dying to ourselves,” she said. “It’s a softening of our own human wills to be receptive to doing what God wants us to do through the gift of Natural Family Planning.”

In his homily on the feast of St. James, which concluded a novena of prayer for chastity, Father Dudzinski emphasized that the Mass must be a part of everything that Catholics do in daily life.

“The most important and most efficacious thing that will help us to truly do God’s will is to come to Mass,” he said, “… and to offer the Mass for that conversion.”

Practicing chastity requires a spirit of humility, he said. “In humility, you’re willing to do whatever is asked of you by God. … True humility says, ‘I want to do God’s will, but I can only do it with him.’ And so we must go to God every day, and ask for his guidance and ask for his support.”

When people lack humility, Father Dudzinski explained, “then the rest of the virtues, the things that really make us true followers of Jesus, tend to fall by the wayside.”

In marriage, the husband and wife have to sacrifice for each other and for their family, he said. “They have to sacrifice for the Kingdom so they can be witnesses to each other and to the world.”

After the Mass, Father Dudzinski said he promotes Natural Family Planning to engaged and married couples by talking with them about how the unitive and procreative dimensions of intimacy nurture respect for each other and strengthen their relationship with God.

“I always try to help them to understand about having God at the center of their marriage,” he said, “and to truly be co-creators with God and to be open to … cooperating with God’s plan.” †