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Hello, i was wondering if i could ask you a question about birth control. I know that the church condemns it because it makes a woman not open to life, but what about if she uses it purely to make her period lighter. Is that ok? and if it is, can a married couple still have sex if she uses it purely to lighten her period?
Hi, Alex:
First of all I want to say, as a Priest (and a convert to the Holy Catholic Faith), that it never ceases to amaze me how the teaching authority out in the world takes the rap for "being so legalistic, and caught up in rules and regulations."
And yet, continually, we get questions such as these that just have to "push, and push, and push the envelope as far as possible" - then we try to give an answer, and it just really comes down to a matter of whether the Church wants to "agree with what I have already chosen to do...and if not, then 'to heck with the Church...'"
Or, to put it another way, often times the world approaches the question of "loving, knowing, and serving God in this world to be happy with Him in the next" as "what is the least amount of loving God (or just how much can I NOT love God, but love Him just enough)that I can get away with in this world, and still be able to grab the prize of Heaven?"
Surely you can look up a lot of details of this kind of thing with some internet searches that will link you to Catholic Pro-Life sites that have full, detailed answers to these kinds of issues...
But, off the cuff, I will respond to as much of your line of questioning as I can in this forum...
ARTIFICIAL CONTRACEPTION has been condemned throughout the history of the Catholic Church, not only because it makes the woman not open to life, but also makes the MAN not open to life who would employ such a thing. Even more than this, it frustrates and cuts off the personal giving of self between the couple of their whole being and entire human person, which weakens and erodes the mutual support and trust of the conjugal (married, ordered to family/domestic life) relationship, or Covenant (or contract) of Marriage.
One interesting and shocking reality about many contraceptive drugs on the market is that they have effects beyond mere "hormone therapy" or even merely "preventing" conception - they in fact, very often, are "abortafacient" - cause an early embryo abortion by not allowing the fertilized zygote from implanting on the uterine wall.
So, without a doubt, this whole question needs to be approached with much care and reverence for human life and God's plan in creation for married love and the procreation of children...
Fr. Timothy Johnson
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Answers by Expert:
Fr. Timothy Johnson
Expertise
A Traditional Catholic Priest, validly and licitly ordained, incardinated legally and canonically in the Diocese of Fargo, and in good-standing with my Local Ordinary (Bishop) on active assignment at a rural Tri-Parish. I can provide honest and balanced answers to questions on topics pertaining to Traditional Roman Catholicism of the Latin Church (Councils of Trent and Vatican II)and a lot about the Eastern Catholic Churches, including the Sacred Liturgy, Sacred Scripture, Church History, the use of the Latin language, the tradition of Sacred Music, and current events in the Catholic Church from a traditional, historical and balanced perspective.
Experience
I have been ordained a Roman Catholic Priest since June 2001.
Organizations
Knights of Columbus; Church Music Association of America (CMAA)
Education/Credentials
Ordained Priest, 02 JUN 2001; Ordained Deacon, 27 JAN 2001; MA - Dogmatic/Systematic Theology;
MDiv - Professional Degree from Seminary;
2-Years formation with Canons Regular of Premontre including studies and experience in Sacred Liturgy, Chant, Latin, Sacraments, Spirituality.
BA - Scholastic/Thomistic Philosophy;
BA - Liberal Arts;
AA - General Studies.
Past/Present Clients
I serve 3-small, rural Parish Communities in Easter North Dakota
I converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1981, at the age of 15.
Over the years I have done work as an organist, cantor, and choir director for the Latin Rite (English & Latin) Mass (Liturgy of the Eucharist), and even for the Hours of the Divine Office.
I have worked as a cantor for a Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church.
Presently my pastoral and administrative duties as a Catholic Priest do not allow me as much time as I used to have to devote to Sacred Music; but for my weekend Masses and Solemnities within my Tri-Parish, I offer High Sung Mass in English. Weekday Mass is typically Low Mass (recited Mass) in English, though on occasion I will offer the "Tridentine Mass" in Latin, which I usually offer on my "Day Off", as well. And now, in light of the "Motu Proprio" by his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI placing the extraordinary usage of the Roman Rite back into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, I have been offering a regularly scheduled SUN, 2:00 PM Tridentine Latin Mass with a community of the faithful that has a stable existence.
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