“The work of educating in the service of life involves the training of married couples in responsible procreation.  In its true meaning, responsible procreation requires couples to be obedient to the Lord’s call and to act as faithful interpreters of His plan.’ (John Paul the Great from Evangelium Vitae 97)

The Catholic Church calls married couples to a deeper love and responsible parenthood.  As part of its total pastoral ministry, the Archdiocese of San Antonio invites you to investigate Natural Family Planning.  (NFP)

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. These methods are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the woman’s cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy.

NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promotes openness to life, and recognizes the value of the child. By respecting the love-giving and life-giving natures, NFP can enrich the bond between husband and wife. (Standards for Diocesan Natural Family Planning Ministry, p.23)

Helping couples to deepen conjugal love and achieve responsible parenthood is part of the Church’s total pastoral ministry to Catholic spouses. Fulfillment of this ministry includes both education and pastoral care. This means “instilling conviction and offering practical help to those who wish to live out their parenthood in a truly responsible way.” (Familiaris consortio, #35)

Furthermore, “…we are not able to make the obstacles to Christian living disappear; we are not in a position to lift all the burdens that weigh upon our Christian families: and much less ware we authorized to attempt to remove the Cross from Christianity.  But we are in a position to proclaim the great dignity of marriage, it’s identity as an image and symbol of God’s everlasting and unbreakable covenant of love with his Church.  We are able to love the family and in this pastoral love to offer it the only criterion for the real solution to the problems that it faces. This criterion is the Word of God; the Word of God in all its purity and power, in all its integrity and with all its demands – the Word of God as transmitted by the Church.” (John Paul the Great)

Registration Forms
2011 NFP Brochure