Our words
would not be an adequate expression of the thought and solicitude of the
Church, Mother and Teacher of all peoples, if, after having recalled men to the
observance and respect of the divine law regarding matrimony, they did not also
support mankind in the honest regulation of birth amid the difficult conditions
which today afflict families and peoples.
The Church, in fact, cannot act
differently toward men than did the Redeemer. She knows their weaknesses, she
has compassion on the multitude, she welcomes sinners. But at the same time she
cannot do otherwise than teach the law. For it is in fact the law of human life
restored to its native truth and guided by the Spirit of God. (24) Observing
the Divine Law.
The
teaching of the Church regarding the proper regulation of birth is a
promulgation of the law of God Himself. And yet there is no doubt that to many
it will appear not merely difficult but even impossible to observe. Now it is
true that like all good things which are outstanding for their nobility and for
the benefits which they confer on men, so this law demands from individual men
and women, from families and from human society, a resolute purpose and great
endurance.
Indeed it cannot be observed unless God comes to their help with the
grace by which the goodwill of men is sustained and strengthened. But to those
who consider this matter diligently it will indeed be evident that this
endurance enhances man's dignity and confers benefits on human society.
Humanae
Vitae 19-20
Reflection – Well, it’s time
to get back to our reading through of HV, even though it’s not quite the
weekend. I’m in poustinia tomorrow (prayer and fasting day, for you non-MH
types), so no blog.
We move here into a new section of the encyclical. The Pope has laid out
the case for the Church’s teaching about the use of artificial contraception,
that it is a violation of God’s law and hence the doctrine is not simply a
human artifact that can be discarded when we see fit. I won’t go into all of
that again – click on the Humanae Vitae label
at the bottom of the post and read the whole thing again, if you’re murky on
what the Pope said.
All of that was the strictly doctrinal part of the document: this is the
truth, we cannot change it, here’s why. Now we move towards the pastoral part
of the document, where the Pope grapples with the fact that this teaching is,
so to speak, a hard pill to swallow for many. And so the Church needs to
support married couples as they strive to live this doctrine.
It is worth noting here that the pastoral theology of the Church is not a
matter of ‘well, now this is a really hard teaching, so let’s never talk about
this teaching, and let’s just let everyone go their own way with it without
making any effort to explain, explore, teach, present what the Church teaches.’
That is not ‘pastoral’. It is not pastoral to say, going full Jack Nicholson,
‘You can’t handle the truth!’
It is not pastoral to make vague noises about freedom of conscience,
ignoring what the Church actually teaches about that subject, and then trail
off in a cloud of vagueness. It is noteworthy that in our modern Church scene,
where this non-pastoral approach has been more or less the norm, people have
freely exercised their consciences… and largely marched in monolithic lockstep
according to the prevailing mores and norms of secular culture. It is not
freedom we are seeing in the modern approach to sexual morality and fertility,
but conformity and brain washing, often exerted with considerable social
pressure. Just talk to any teenager or young adult striving to keep their
virginity until they are married, or any married couple who have more than the
socially approved two or three children.
The proper pastoral approach of the Church is to say, as Pope Paul VI
says here, ‘yes, we know this is incredibly hard. It may seem to you to be
impossible. You will need God’s help. But it will be incredibly good for you in
the long run if you resolutely take on this challenge. It will enhance your
dignity, your greatness, and will contribute to the building of the kingdom of
God. Don’t give up.’
People accuse the Church of patronizing its lay members in its sexual
teachings. I think it is the secular world that patronizes people, by assuming
that self-control is impossible, that we are merely a mass of unruly desires
that must be appeased, that the easiest path is always the best path, and to
invite people to do something that is inherently difficult is unthinkable,
since (I guess) we’re all a bunch of weak, selfish babies.
The Church calls people to the Cross, as Christ calls us to the Cross.
This is not patronizing, but is actually a great compliment. There is an
assumption that within every human person is a capacity for heroism, for
greatness, for the long endurance of heavy burdens and for sacrificial love.
And so the pastoral care of the Church, if it is to be genuinely
pastoring, shepherding according to the heart of the Good Shepherd, must be to
call the ‘sheep’ (which is not just the laity, you know – I’m pretty sheepish!)
to the true pasture of life, which is Golgotha, where all the spiritual grace
of mercy, love, strength flow in streams of blood and water from the side of
Christ, and where he hands over the Spirit to believers.
Without this fundamental perspective, none of what the Church teaches
about the moral life makes any sense; with this perspective, it is luminously
clear and, while it remains anything but easy, we can at least begin to see
that it is life-giving, liberating, and beautiful. It is not self-indulgence
and self-determination that brings life and freedom to the human person, but
union with Christ in selfless love.
And the fundamental pastoral care of the
Church is to call people ceaselessly to the union and the love, no matter how
high the price may be for them, because it
there that our true and only happiness lies.