Expressing Marital Love during the Fertile Phase (1981)

Expressing Marital Love during the Fertile Phase by John F. Harvey in International Review of Natural Family Planning, Volume V, Number 4, Winter 1981

According to various observers, a significant growth has taken place in natural family planning (NFP), not merely in the numbers who are turning away from artificial and contraceptive methods to natural methods of spac­ing children, but also in a deeper understanding of NFP as a way of life. In conferences on the subject, like the week-long symposium at Collegeville in June 1978 or in Philadelphia in June 1980, the constant theme is that NFP is not merely a method of spacing the births of children but a philosophy of life and love. 

It can be called a philosophy because it presupposes that one has convic­tions about the ultimate meanings of God and man; that one believes in a caring God; that one sees human sexuality as more than biological, more than functional, more than an expression of human affections, however deep; that one thinks human sexuality is part of the mystery of personality and, as such, is transcendental, going beyond the conscious expectations of man and woman to fulfill providential purposes.

John F. Harvey, O.S.F.S., is a professor of moral theology at DeSales Hall School of The­ology. In addition to giving retreats to priests and religious who have homosexual difficulties, he has written several dozen articles on pastoral subjects, particularly homosexuality. He has taught in various Catholic colleges and seminaries in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

intl-review-nfp-1981-harvey-expressing-marital-love-during-fertile-phase.pdf