God is our Creator. He knows what is best for us. But don’t you find yourself sometimes as a perpetual teenager, thinking your Creator doesn’t know best?
Well, here’s yet another testament that He truly knows best. Dr. Lazar Greenfield, a highly respected surgeon and inventor, published an article recently that touted the Zen-like benefits of semen on women. He cited research that said that women who had sex without any barriers (condoms, etc.) were significantly less depressed than women who used condoms or were abstinent. Unfortunately, Dr. Greenfield resigned this week because of significant public pressure from feminist groups who aren’t happy that a high-profile medical professional was touting the benefits of male-female relations or “sexism” as they call it. Confused? So are we.
When married couples engage in relations as God intended, without any barriers, they get some great rewards in the mental health department. The Catholic Church has always recognized the holiness of the marital act (Genesis even says that a man should leave his family and “cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”) and in her wisdom, decidedly condemned the birth control pill when other faiths were saying that it’s fine to use for contraception, even in marriage (see Humanae Vitae).
Which is why it was really disappointing to see a study by the Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) say that 98% of Catholic women use birth control methods banned by the Catholic Church. 98%! In several dioceses across the country, engaged couples have to go through a Natural Family Planning course before they get married where they learn all about why the Church teaches NFP and how to go about implementing it in their marriage. What happened to them? Or their parents?
For those who do adhere to NFP, the benefits are immense. Not only are these couples following the Church’s teachings, but they are a reflection of Christ and his bride, the Church, in that He gave fully of himself to her, holding nothing back. Husband and wives are called to imitate that love, holding nothing back from each other, including their fertility. If used correctly, NFP has a 99% success rate in helping couples avoid a pregnancy if they are called to hold off on having kids for the time being.
The marital act, as God intended it to be, is something wonderful for husbands and wives and gives each of them immense benefits not only spiritually but as science has proven, physically and mentally as well.
Time and time again, God shows us one way or another that He knows best. Let’s stop fighting Him like teenagers and follow His will because He surely has our best interests in mind.
