As a little break from all the hiking posts, I just wanted to share that I have had an article published in the Couple to Couple League Family Foundations magazine! I wrote the article for their blog, but it was never published there. However, at the beginning of the month, my Mom told me her cousin asked if I'd been published in the magazine. I ran outside to get the mail, and sure enough, their was the magazine with my article! I was very, very excited. (Below is most of the article; the editor added a few paragraphs to the magazine copy.)
Woman
Are Listening. Are We Speaking the
Truth?
We’ve all heard the statistic:
98% of Catholic women use contraception.
It sounds depressing, and the thought of trying to convince that large a
percentage of Catholics the truth, let alone others, seems daunting, overwhelming,
even impossible. But thanks to a new
study from the Women,
Faith, and Culture Project, the real opinions of Catholic women are
actually a lot more encouraging.
According to Emily Stimpson at
CatholicVote.org:
“What
Catholic Women Think: Faith, Conscience, and Contraception” was released
last week by the inestimable Mary Hasson and her co-author, Michelle Hill. In
great detail, it confirms what some of us have been saying all along: Catholic
women’s attitudes about contraception are much more nuanced and diverse than
MSNBC would have people believe.
In a nutshell, the study found that
while only 13 percent of church-going Catholic women are completely on board
with the Church’s teachings on family planning, young women (ages 18-34) are
far more receptive, with 27 percent in full agreement with Rome.
Moreover, when the women in
question are women who go to Mass weekly and have been to confession at least
once in the past year, 37 percent stand with the Church on the issue of
contraception.
Which is to say that more than a
third of the women sitting in the pews on most Sundays believe and live what
the Church teaches.
Furthermore, the study shows that
even many of the women who aren’t 100 percent in line with the Church aren’t
waiting to throw rotten tomatoes at anyone who dares utter the letters “NFP.”
44 percent of all Mass-going women accept at least some of the Church’s
teachings on family planning. And 53 percent of those women say they’re open to
learning more about what the Church teaches. 50 percent of younger Catholic
women overall said the same.
Unfortunately, not all the news
from the study is quite so cheering.
The results also show that
somewhere along the line, 85 percent of Mass-going Catholics have picked up the
idea that they can be good Catholics without following the Church’s teachings
on contraception.
The statistics revealed by this study present a picture
which is both encouraging and challenging.
For Catholics who already believe and live what the Church teaches about
family planning, the study shows they are not alone. But for those same Catholics, especially ones
who are serious about sharing the truth and beauty of the Church’s teachings on
human sexuality with others, the study challenges them to persevere in their efforts. Because women (and men) are hungry for the
truth, and they are open to listening those who would speak it to them with
charity and clarity.
The
task will continue to be a interesting one.
If 85% of Mass-going Catholics think they can be good Catholics whether
or not they contracept, those who know the truth must not be silent. Lack of conformity to Church teaching on
sexuality constitutes a mortal sin, at least when done with full knowledge of
the gravity of the act. Therefore, with
the utmost charity, faithful Catholics must share the truth about the
spiritual, emotional, relational and physical harm caused by
contraception. And although we should
always share the truth, regardless of success, we should be encouraged to know
that Catholic women are listening. The
secular culture and media would have us believe that the discussion is over,
but it’s not.
We should also encourage our priests to speak out on this
issue.
According to the study, 72 percent
of the women rely primarily on the Sunday homily for their faith formation.
Which means if they’re not hearing about the Church’s teachings on love and
life there, they’re not hearing about them anywhere.
And many aren’t. For more than two
generations, there has been only silence from the majority of our Church’s
pulpits on the issue of contraception. Too many pastors and shepherds of souls
have kept mum on the question, instead leaving it to the culture to form the
Catholic conscience. Or, more accurately, mal-form the Catholic conscience.
The study doesn’t give us a reason
for that. Anecdotally, we can hazard a guess that a little of the reticence
stems from disagreement with Church teaching; much more from the fear of
alienating parishioners.
The reality, however, is that people are open to hearing the
truth, even from the pulpit. When I
mentioned this study to a priest friend, he agreed, saying that when he
recently preached on contraception he received only positive feedback regarding
the homily. And that was at a large
parish in the D.C. suburbs. Yes, some
people may not like what they hear. But
we could learn something from the secular media. If you say something enough times, people
begin to hear and believe. Our culture
bombards people with lies and misinformation constantly. It’s time to use the say tactic for speaking
the truth. And be encouraged: many are listening.
This weekend my parents were visiting and us, and of course, we invited them to come hiking with us! It was a beautiful day for hiking, with sunny skies, perfect temperature, and great company. Bobby chose a hike in Prince William forest so we would have to drive far. Unfortunately, the hike was rather longer than he realized, and we were all very tired and it was getting dark by the time we finished. However, it was a very nice hike, much of it following a stream. Many of the leaves had fallen, but there was still lots of color in the trees and of course, on the ground. One section of the trail had such a thick carpet of dry leaves we could barely hear each other talking! Mom and Dad were really good sports about doing this with us, and Dad carried Gracie for part of the hike. Another special thing that happened on this hike was an opportunity to gain our plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls during November, by visiting a cemetery. Along the route there was a tiny, family cemetery, with a newer stone marking the burial place of a person who used to live in this area during the 1800's. We prayed for his soul and said prayers for the Pope, to gain our indulgences. Definitely the most unique place 
and experience for visiting a cemetery during November! All in all, it was a fun hike for us, though a bit long for Mom and Dad, and Bobby and I may do it again. Prince William Forest is just a great, local spot to hike and enjoy nature!
