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20120326 Christians seek love and life in marriage 基督徒婚姻內的愛與生命

Last week we looked at the commandments regarding chastity, and this week we will looking at an important issue of chastity in contemporary society: the evil of contraception.
Writer Father John Hardon, SJ, explains that contraception is seriously sinful because “the conjugal act is of its very nature designed for the purpose of procreation. Therefore, those who deliberately interfere with the natural act of procreation do that which is essentially immoral and contrary to the will of God.”

Plan of God
Sex is created by God for procreation and for the expression of love between husband and wife. The two love functions of marital intercourse are the unitive and procreative.
According to Father Hardon, “unitive love is the selfless charity fostered between husband and wife in their physical embrace” and “procreative love is love communicated from husband-with-wife to their potential offspring.”
Father Hardon further points out that conjugal love is authentically Christian when it is selfless and self-giving. Conjugal love is selfish when “each spouse is seeking his or her own interests while using the other as a means to heighten one’s own satisfaction.”
In the plan of God, pleasure is not an end, but a means to something much more important. For example, pleasure should not be the primary purpose for eating; food is mainly for health. If a person only seeks pleasure in eating and disregards health, sooner or later that person will get sick.
Similarly, if people seek pleasure in sex to the point of disregarding love and life, there will be disorder in the human body, in the family, and in society.
Body and family
The ability to have children is something healthy, good, and normal. Using contraception is to treat something healthy as a disease, and has side effects on the body.
An informative website (www.thepillkills.com) explains some side effects of contraception on a woman’s body.
According to the same website, contraception is harmful not only to the body, but also to the family: “Sterile intercourse created by the pill leads to women becoming mere objects of sexual gratification for men.”
The excessive seeking of gratification can easily lead to treating others as mere objects, whereas self-control helps to foster respect of the human person.
Periodic abstinence and communication are important elements of the natural family planning (NFP), and these elements contribute positively to self-control and mutual respect in family life.
Natural family planning
Father John Hardon writes that when they plan their family by natural means, a couple “make legitimate use of what nature provides, namely long periods each month when the wife is sterile, while abstaining from intercourse when she is fertile.”
A couple using artificial contraception “contradict nature by having intercourse during fertile periods and deliberately interfering with the natural life process.”
An important difference between contraception and natural family planning is that in the former, a couple does something directly (either through chemical or mechanical means) against human life, whereas in the latter there is no such attack.
Several organizations provide information on the different methods of natural family planning; these include Serena Canada (www.serena.ca), WOOMB Canada (www.woomb.ca), and Couple to Couple League (www.ccli.org).
Papal teachings for society
The contraceptive mentality, which views pleasure as the ultimate goal for sex, is harmful for society. Already in 1968, Pope Paul VI correctly predicted that contraception would “open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards.”
Humanae Vitae predicted it would also lead to the mentality of reducing a woman to a mere instrument for the satisfaction of another’s desires.
From 1979 to 1984 Blessed John Paul II gave 129 talks on sexual morality. These talks are called the “Theology of the Body.” Learning resources are available at thetheologyofthebody.com.

去週,我們探討了有關守貞潔的誡命,今天,我們談談相關的議題 —— 避孕。
耶穌會會士若望.赫頓神父解釋:「夫婦間性行為原為孕育下一代而設,人工節育則干擾這自然常規,變成不道德和違反天主旨意的行為。」人工避孕違反天主誡律的大罪。
天主的計劃
天主創設兩性的關係,原為夫婦互相表達親愛的方式,同時讓他們能繁衍後代,屬於一體化及生育的婚盟行為。據赫頓神父闡釋:「這一體化的愛,是夫婦身體無私擁抱的互愛… 生育的愛,源自夫婦對嫡後的共愛。」他續指出:「無私和自我付出的夫婦情愛,才乎合基督徒的精神。只顧利用對方來滿足個人慾望的夫婦情愛是自私的。」
天主的計劃內,快感並不是終向,而是達致更高目的的工具。譬如,飲食不只在乎式香味美,而更是為了健康;否則,大快朵頤變成摧毀健康的元凶。同樣,性生活一旦偏離真愛和生命,會損害身體、家庭、和社會。
身體與家庭
孕育能力是合乎健康和自然規律;人工節育卻把孕育能力當作疾病來對待,結果為身體帶來很多不良的副作用。網站www.thepillkills.com提供人工避孕對婦女身心不良影響的資料。其實,人工節育使人的身體淪為洩慾工具,最後亦破壞了家庭和尊嚴。相反,「自然家庭計劃」讓人培養互重、溝通、克制和自律,增進家庭的價值。
自然家庭計劃
赫頓神父寫道:「『自然家庭計劃』要人隨自然律行事,就是在妻子不易受孕期才進行性行為,其它時間則雙方要克制情慾;若然使用人工節育,等於違反自然律,蓄意干犯自然生命進程。」
人工節育和自然家庭計劃有很大的分別:前者是以不同的手法(例如利用化學或工具),阻止(甚至滅絕)人類生命的誕生,後者絕無此等對生命的攻擊。
提供自然家庭計劃的方法,可到以下網站參攷:www.serena.ca、www.woomb.ca、www.tccli.org。
教宗對普世的指引
人工節育的心態是以快感作為性的最終目的,對社會為害無窮。早在一九六八年,故教宗保祿六世斷言,人工節育會導致「敞開不忠婚姻的大門,降低道德的標準。」人工節育也會導致「把婦女貶為發洩私慾的工具。(人類生命通諭)」
一九七九年至一九八四年間,真福教宗若望保祿二世,在一百二十九次的講座中,談及性行為的道德觀,就是輯錄成名為「身體神學」的書冊;迄今,仍有不少人趨之若鶩地學習。或可到www.thetheologyofthebody.com網址瀏覽。