A couple of winters ago I was pulling out of my driveway attempting to convince myself that arriving at the gym instead of Chic-fil-a was a much better start to the day. In the midst of my inner debate, catholic radio caught my attention. I ignored the fight going on between #3 and #4 in the back seats and turned up the volume. The program host was interviewing a doctor that used to perform abortions back in the day. He was sharing his conversion story and I came in when he became emotional while recalling all of the abortions he had been a part of. You could hear the pain and disgust for himself in his heart as he spoke. I turned up the volume some more. What I heard next completely threw my world into a whirl. The doctor began to talk about how he hadn’t just been a part of the abortions that occurred in his office, he had been a part of possibly thousands. Huh? Without knowing? What do you mean? Doctor: “ I realized that I had been an active participant in all the abortions that occurred through my prescribing of birth control. I was sick. I had to get to confession.” Me to car radio: “What is he talking about?!” Then the radio host and doctor start talking about how birth control can act as an abortifacient but people are not aware of this facet. Then they dove deeper into the details of how the pill actually works. It was then my turn to feel sick. I had never heard this before. In all of my life, I had never heard that birth control could act as an abortifacient until I turned on my radio that morning. I was shocked and disgusted with myself. My husband and I had been on and off the pill in between kids. We always felt guilty, we always knew better. But, it was so much easier than any other option! We’d use it for about 6 months and then decide we were either too guilty to stay on it or ready to be open to another baby. Yes, everything I knew about Catholic teaching on contraception should have been enough to make us dedicated NFP-ers. The problem was, I could not trust God with all of it. I just couldn’t. (I still have trouble with this, PS. But am relying on His grace day by day.) I had very recently thrown away my birth control because I couldn’t stand going against God anymore. But after hearing that radio segment, there was no way I could go back to using the pill. So, all of this brings me to…why aren’t the words “WARNING: The pill can act as an Abortifacient!” seen all over the place? They should be on billboards and all over social media! Shoot, why isn’t it in bold red letters on birth control packets?! It’s one of the best kept secrets of our time. Doctors will fight you on the truth of the pill. Many are not even aware themselves of how it truly works. I’m telling you, best kept secret. Should it be the one fact that keeps Catholics away from using the pill? Nope. However, for those stubborn ye of little faiths (ME) it could be just the thing to turn them back to living the faith. I have to tell you, ever since this conviction came and God gave my husband and I the grace to be obedient to His desires, our life has changed immensely. Is NFP challenging and hard and sucky at times? Yup. But, it has opened our hearts to hearing God like we never have before. I feel so much closer to my husband and I feel so much closer to Jesus. Guess God knows what He’s talkin’ about after all. Text Copyright 2017 Stephanie Stovall
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When was the last time you let yourself go deep in thought about how much you love being a Roman Catholic? As wives and mothers our hearts send our thoughts down sporadic love paths for our husbands and kids. I’ll be nursing, looking into my infant’s eyes and completely forget about the world going on beyond my couch and Boppy. I sit in the passenger side and glance over at the hubby carefully weaving through traffic with the whole family in tow and my heart melts as I remember glancing over at that same man, driving us to our first date. Our deep love for our families give us little “love bites” throughout our days. Does love for your Catholic faith ever give you some love bites? I sure hope so. We are so stinking lucky to be Catholic. Just think about it for a second. All of your fave Catholic things. What’d you come up with? I’ll take some guesses… How about our Holy Mother? Yeeeessss! I know I wouldn’t be in this wonderful place of life right now if it wasn’t for her. Which brings me to my next guess… Novenas and all other Catholic prayers. I love that when I am so overcome by emotion that I can not put a prayer into words I have “go to prayers” to offer up. And also, novenas are just wonderful. Something happens, you need help, you find the perfect novena and bam! Your hope in the prayer begins to ease your soul. One of my favorites are the statues. I love me a good religious statue. One time on vacation my family was walking down the Riverwalk area of San Antonio trying to find the church we were attending for Mass that day. On the way we passed a skinny woman laying on the ground, pregnant tummy exposed to all. I wasn’t sure if she was begging for money or simply resting from the Texas heat, because I had quickly looked away. A few minutes later we had arrived at the church and right on the side of it was a statue of “Homeless Jesus.” He was laying on a bench in a way that was so strikingly similar to the pregnant lady I had just uncomfortably walked past. I reached out and touched Jesus’ head in forgiveness for my heart of stone. It was a powerful moment. But it didn’t stop there. As I kept walking towards the entrance, I see one of my boys had stopped at the statue. It was my six year old. He stops, reaches into his pocket and places the precious penny he had been so excited to find just moments before, right by Jesus’ head. What a moment. I am so grateful that our church acknowledges we are tangible creatures that are moved by objects we can touch and see. Part of that story holds another one of my faves. I love that our church truly is a universal church. I know that at 9 am on a Sunday morning there are many others doing the same exact thing I am. We’re all praying the same exact prayers and kneeling at the same time. We are all calling up to God in this one, universal way. How beautiful. I mean really, how beautiful. I love our magnificent cathedrals and how we have men and women that commit their lives to God as priest and nuns. I love that we are the faith of Scott Hahn, Mother Angelica and Fr. John Riccardo. I love that we are “obligated” to attend Mass every single Sunday because receiving the Eucharist, visiting God in His house is just that important. I love how deep the faith is. I love the rich history we have. I love our traditions, how they’ve been passed down just like any family’s traditions. I love that Jesus…Jesus Himself (!) started our church and gave us an apostle as our first Pope. I love our hymns. I love that we put the Bible together and I love that we have guidelines on how to interpret scripture as well as Lectio Divina. I love that every single thing about being Catholic enriches my faith life and brings me closer to God. Watching people walk up and receiving the Eucharist gives me the biggest love bite for our Catholic faith. It can bring me to tears. Fall in love, truly FALL IN LOVE with being Catholic and be excited!! We are SO STINKING LUCKY to have been called into this faith. Jump for joy, guys!! Take some time and think…what gives you your Catholic love bites? Text Copyright Stephanie Stovall 2017 |
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