Family: Covenant Families | Song of Songs | Anti-God Contraception
Anti-Church Contraception | Anti-Spousal Contraception

Many thanks to Elizabeth Daub, Editor of Celebrate Life magazine, for her permission to publish this copyrighted article on my website.

From Celebrate Life Magazine, November/December 2002
GUIDANCE
Contraception is Anti-Self
By Msgr. Vincent Foy

By our nature we have an inescapable love of ourselves. But because God is love and we are conceived in and for love, God has decreed that true love of self cannot exist without love of others. So we have the paradox that the more we love God and others, to that degree do we truly love ourselves.

Christtells us "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John15:13). This gives us some insight into the abysmal lack of love in the act of Contraception. It so far departs from a willingness to give one's life for another as to be willing to sacrifice a life for one's selfish pleasure. It violates the great commandment of

love of others and the sixth commandment of God (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2376). Spiritually, Contraception is profoundly anti-self, inflicting upon oneself the ultimate wound, that abuse of freedom which is called mortal sin. Unrepented, that sin is a bar to eternal life. Aside from guilt and motivation, Contraception has its own intrinsic negative dynamics. It is a selfish act, creating a selfish person; a lustful act, creating a lustful person; an exploitive act, creating an exploiting person. It usually becomes

"Spiritually, Contraception is profoundly anti-self, inflicting upon oneself the ultimate wound, that abuse of freedom which is called mortal sin."

a habit, blinding the mind and weakening the will as few other sins do. It is not surprising that many contracepting Catholics abandon the practice of their faith or lose their faith. Many abandon the Sacrament of Penance and add sacrilege to sin by receiving Holy Communion.

When considering the anti-self effect of Contraception, we must keep in mind that we are not only referring to the immediate user of Contraception. Also guilty are all formal cooperators who promote or condone Contraception, whether confessors, counselors, teachers, doctors, nurses, or others. These also are self-destroyers. So concludes our brief discussion of the evil of Contraception. It is anti-God, anti Church, anti-society, anti-family, anti-spousal, and anti-self. When one considers this evil in all its sociological and theological aspects and its gross attack on the Culture of Life, its defense and promotion become a mystery of perversity.

While Contraception threatens to bury multitudinous souls in its shroud of hate and death, there remains hope. God knocks at the door of every soul. In His mercy He hears the prayers not only of the innocent but also of the penitent. God does not want the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live. Prayer, sacrifice and the Sacraments can stop the juggernaut of Contraception. Pope John II has described these means as the most powerful in human history. Will enough of us use them?

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Msgr. Vincent Foy was ordained in 1939. He was named Monsignor by Pope Pius XII in 1957. He earned a doctoral degree in canon law and has served as the head of the Archdiocesan Provincial Matrimonial Tribunal and as a parish priest.