32nd Sunday of OT (B)
November 7, 2018
A message from the Archbishop
November 7, 2018

Life and Love go hand in hand

Love is contagious. Love is dynamic.  Love is generous.

Last month we celebrated love through the movie documentary ‘Sexual Revolution: 50 Years Since Humanae Vitae’. While the movie gave us some revelations about the history of the Sexual Revolution, the beauty of Pope Paul VI’s response to the “Hippie Generation” rang through. The encyclical really did spell out what love truly inculcates.

In a July 22, 2018 article by Fr Jeffrey F Kirby on cruxnow.com, the legacy of Humanae Vitae is expanded upon. The name Humanae Vitae speaks to what the document is about—‘On Human Life’.

Life and love go hand in hand. Life is a gift from God. “As a gift, life makes the most sense and is closer to God when it is shared in love.” “We exist because we are loved” by a generous God. A God who wants us to accept His love and be generous in sharing love as He always has.

The beautiful responses of individuals, groups and the corporate community to the devastating floods of some weeks ago was a sign that Trinidad has not gone completely away from our namesake ‘La Trinity’ or God Himself!

When this love is shared particularly with the most vulnerable in society, we are truly children of the Author of Life and Love. Being ‘open to life’ in one’s married life comes from this very same love, this generous love we are being called to follow from Our Lord.

With this understanding, there is so much society can do. We know that the most vulnerable human being is that of an unborn child. Women who find difficulty in giving birth to an already-conceived child are in need of a society who can support her and the fragile life inside of her.

Families nowadays are struggling to raise children in healthy and happy ways. The ultimate action of Humanae Vitae is to love life, support life and support family life in particular.

At the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (AFLC) there are several programmes supporting life, family life and ultimately the love to which we are all called.

Marriage programmes, engaged couple programmes, even those who are having difficulty or changes within married love can get supported through Retrouvaille and the separated, divorced and widowed ministry. Isn’t it beautiful that our God loves us so much and our Church shows this love in these ways!

In Africa, an anonymous woman told Dr John Billings after he described what the Billings Ovulation Method® involved, that “this Method is Love!”. The movie we hosted last month also highlighted the work of Dr Billings.

Dr Billings generously gave three months of his working life to assist the Australian Catholic Church find something other than the Rhythm/Calendar/Counting method which was not helping quite a few couples in postponing pregnancy.

These three months were the longest three months in history, Dr Billings joked, as researching this method became his life’s work since 1953 to the end of his life in 2007.

In the 1950s, during the time of the baby boom, children were being abandoned on the streets. Some couples had serious difficulty being responsible parents. Dr Billings discovered a solution for them that would not be as drastic as surgery, not involving drugs or devices and definitely in keeping with nature or the natural functions of the body.

The Method is 99 per cent effective in the postponement of pregnancy, but is also used to help couples achieve pregnancy if they are having difficulty. Women can learn about their reproductive and even general health through this Method which continues to be researched. This is the love offered by the Billings Ovulation Method® of Natural Fertility Regulation.

The movie documentary ended with Mother Teresa, now a saint, praying for love to grow in people’s hearts. We end this article with just the same, that women love their bodies, that husbands would love their wives and protect and preserve her health through the use of this Method, that families would be empowered with this knowledge that can benefit their love for one another.

Contact BOMA-TT: 384-1659 Email: billingstt@gmail.com Website: www.billingstt.com