Today is the feast of the exaltation of the cross.
It is also the birthday of Margaret Sanger, the founder of planned parenthood, the woman who pushed for contraception. She coined the term "birth control." She once stated, "No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother."
Perhaps you are wondering how these two events are related, the church's feast of the exaltation of the cross and the birth of the lady who helped put "artificial contraception" on the map in the bed room.
According to the Guttmacher institute: 8% of women who have abortions never used birth control, which means 92 % of them have used birth control. So much for preventing abortions by use of artificial contraception.
Just a bit on her quote above: no woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother. As if one is a mother by choice alone. The moment someone engages in the act of sexual intercourse they are assuming the responsibility associated with the act: babies.
What Margaret Sanger really wanted was not so much freedom to consciously choose to be a mother but rather access to sex without responsibility. Artificial contraception basically divorces love and gift of self open to life from the act of sex thus reducing sex to mere pleasure minus responsibility. Basically contraception refuses the gift of one's whole self. Love demands a complete surrender of self not a partial gift. Sex no longer speaks of love.
In our society, "making love" is often associated with the sexual act, which entails a openness to the other. However, now with the introduction of contraception, there is no complete openness, thus where love was experienced is now hindered.
Sex is no longer life giving but a selfish act. This of course stares in the face of the cross of christ, whose very act of giving himself on the cross ensures life for all. The sacrifice of the cross entails an opening to new life.
New life comes by way of gift of self and sacrificial love.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life." Using contraception, especially between a husband and the wife, would be like putting a condom over the side of Christ to keep his blood and being shed and thus the gift of self from being totally given.
The Cross of Christ shows us what love looks like: free, total, faithful, fruitful.
Sanger got it wrong. And no one bothered to question her along the way. Convenience took precedence over true love.
think about our society for a moment. Has birth control made out society better. Have abortions decreased? Have divorces decreased? Have women been treated better by men? Unlike the Cross that brought life, "birth control" has contributed to the culture of death.
Sad really.
We adore you O Christ, and we bless you, because by your cross you have redeemed the world.
We pray that on this feast redemption may truly come to men and women every where. We pray that they no longer be afraid of life and that fear would be cast away and true love and freedom be experienced. We pray for all married couples who have been betrayed by society and the promise of "false" freedom through "birth control" that they experience God's mercy and begin to seen clearly the path Christ has shown us in the cross. We pray that those who have mutilated their bodies in order to prevent pregnancy find true comfort in Christ who comes not to "condemn but to save." That they become advocates and a voice for truth. We pray that men and women every where begin to recognize the beauty of life, the beauty of children, and the tremendous honor of being parents. We pray that sex can be reinstated into the proper context of love and gift of self and no longer be reduced to mere pleasure. We pray that men and women truly learn to respect each other and grow to nurture each other's identities as children of God rather than objects of pleasure. We pray that as we exalt the cross, the standard of love offered by Christ be recognized and valued and become the foundation of every union between husband and wife. We ask this through the crucified Savior, Christ Our Lord, the one who comes to set us free. Amen
We adore you O Christ, and we bless you, because by your cross you have redeemed the world.
"Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation. The cross is both the sign of God's sufferings and the trophy of his victory...the cross is called Christ's glory; it is saluted as his triumph." St. Andrew
1 comment:
Wonderful reflection. Thank you! May the Good Lord bless you and your ministry always.
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