Humanae Vitae Was Ahead of Its Time

This past weekend I was given (thanks, Bernie!) my third copy of Matthew Kelly's book Rediscovering Catholicism (the other two copies I handed off before I could really get into reading them). I'm only a few chapters into it, but I've already hit quotable material. This excerpt, for example:

We spend much of our time fixated on secondary questions and very little time exploring the primary questions about our brief stay here on earth. This is why many of the philosophies we live our lives in allegiance to are absorbed through the culture rather than the result of any well-thought-out approach to life.

This is what the Church in every age is here to teach us: a well-thought-out approach to life. Jesus Christ is unchanging; so is his bride the Church whether She clashes with the whims of culture or not. We see a very clear example of this in Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae Vitae. While many people don't like what the Church teaches with regards to human sexuality, marriage, contraception and abortion, Her teachings will not be altered. Truth is not subject to an opinion poll.

From Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae:

It is to be anticipated that perhaps not everyone will easily accept this particular teaching. There is too much clamorous outcry against the voice of the Church, and this is intensified by modern means of communication. But it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a "sign of contradiction." She does not, because of this, evade the duty imposed on her of proclaiming humbly but firmly the entire moral law, both natural and evangelical.

Since the Church did not make either of these laws, she cannot be their arbiter—only their guardian and interpreter. It could never be right for her to declare lawful what is in fact unlawful, since that, by its very nature, is always opposed to the true good of man. (Humanae Vitae, 18)

If you haven't read Humanae Vitae yet, CLICK HERE and get caught up.