The Green Room

What you're doing when you blog about NFP

Let's count this as another correct prediction of Humanae Vitae, shall we?


"Among the fruits that ripen if the law of God be resolutely obeyed, the most precious is certainly this, that married couples themselves will often desire to communicate their own experience to others. Thus it comes about that in the fullness of the lay vocation will be included a novel and outstanding form of the apostolate by which, like ministering to like, married couples themselves by the leadership they offer will become apostles to other married couples. And surely among all the forms of the Christian apostolate it is hard to think of one more opportune for the present time."
Humanae Vitae (26)


I would say that blogging is certainly a novel and oustanding form of communicating our own experience to others, with like ministering to like! This was back in 1968, when certainly Pope Paul VI didn't know about the explosion that was to become the internet.

Think your blog doesn't count because technically you're not doing it as a married couple? Think again - even if your husband isn't writing posts about how much he loves analyzing your charts, he's not stopping you. He might even be encouraging you.

Think your blog doesn't count because you've only written one post on NFP or you never get any comments or it can't count as an "apostolate" because there's some sort of a quota? Think again - you don't know who's reading it and who may read it in the future. And even if you do only touch one heart, or don't even all-out touch it but at least plant the seed, isn't that worth it? Isn't a single soul still worth the effort?

You are fulfilling a positive prediction of Humanae Vitae - you are ministering to others - when you blog about NFP, when you facebook it, when you tweet it, when you [insert the newest coolest social networking verb here]. And even moreso when you actually talk about it with other people in real life. So be courageous!

Speaking of standing strong, I hope you're already praying for religious liberty during these fourteen days! If you need a little inspiration, here are some prayers. Here are some short videos of saints who have preceeded us in minstering to their peers, even when it wasn't cool and the government wasn't a fan (a new one each day!). Here's another blog who's focusing on the Fortnight (even though she laughs at that word), complete with Spiderman analogies. And there are many, many more resources out there - please feel free to link to your favorite in the comments.

And consider writing your own post, whether on religious liberty or NFP. Because while many of us reading this realize that the HHS mandate is ultimately about freedom of religion, many many more people have no idea and think it's just some fuss about contraception. Since it's on their minds anyway, why not chime in? Pope Paul VI would be proud.