The Church asks us to abstain from foods at certain times for a number reasons...including the development of virtues and self mastery. Strength in virtue can help protect us from all kinds of sin. One way to gain moral strength in one area is by excercising mastery in other areas...like fasting every Wednesday and Friday...so we can more easily keep ourselves from a good thing when love may demand it.

Wonderful explanation. One of the best I have heard so far

what's the point of getting married if your not having sex how many would marry if there was no sex involved? (we had 3 kid that was enough I don't need a basketball team and I'm not running a farm, to prove how good a catholic I'm ) or about as much sex as being a single ,kids are great but the marriage came first and if it doesn't survive there is no family . and what a better conceptive then having a house full of kids around. Its like hear NFP is 97% affective ,well if your not having sex because you cant afford or don't want anymore kids of course its affective ,and I hear also "we were planning to have another baby anyway - lets see your first 3 kids were 2 years apart and the last one was 6 years apart from the third kid - yea, right! I had a guy I worked with and he and his wife were in there early 50's and she died abruptly from a brain aneurysm and a few months after her death I talked to him and asked how he was doing first thing he said to me was "I miss my wife and I really miss having sex with her", then he told me, " just wish we would of had it more "- life is short and pretty soon your in your 60's and then you can have sex without the fear of pregnancy and the real kicker is the wife/husband loses all interest in sex ,it happens.

I honestly think it’s a good idea for parishes to train singles and even dating couples before they get engaged or married on NFP. Why do I say that? I had a dating relationship and because the guy I was with at the time says that he doesn’t believe in NFP. He went to Catholic school, went to Catholic church, and was raised in a Catholic family. Ladies and gentlemen, please don’t settle.

Thank you so much for this video ✝️♥️ God bless y’all !!!

On our third pregnancy, was practicing just having it once within that small window to see how that would go until we figured it out.... well it didn't work and we got pregnant again. Our first and third child were completely at a bad time and at a time where we did not want children in anyway , not prepared. We have to figure this out before this third baby comes out because my wife has had enough. We've gotten 14 months of timeout after each child due to breastfeeding, but after that it seems like she's/we're fertile 30 days a month. I wouldn't even mind sticking to a calendar for that, but it hasn't protected us from pregnancy. Especially with her medical situation we really want to avoid that, but due to the side effects of tying tubes, contraception, or vasectomy we don't want to subject ourselves to that. Obviously it's not good if it hurts us

Thank you for sharing!

Super @ what does love demands to show that I love my spouse? If it means ti abstain please do so. Practice of self mastery crucial to sacrificial love!!!!

It's good for a marriage the same way two a day football practice in 90 degree heat is good for a football team. The team is stronger and better for it, but it's a real challenge.

They read a letter from a guy who is married "with 5 kids" who complains he can only sleep with his wife twice a month. I mean, good for that guy, that's kind of a lot of headboard rocking for most couples married for years with 1-2 kids, never mind FIVE

You made a decision not to have more. Good for you! Thought it was against Catholic beliefs. I think it's an important decision to have a child or not. God gave us the brain power to decide and plan.

@jamieweiss7897 0 seconds ago I do think that the Catholic view on human sexuality makes some good points, but I think that they err - they literally make an error - on the side of caution. A few Protestant points to make here: 1. Contraception is not a new phenomenon. Barrier methods were known in the 1st century. The "pull out method" was practiced in the 1st century. Yet neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers discuss them at all. The silence of scripture here is notable. Yes there is the Old Testament story of Onan but his sin wasn't the pull out method, it was failing to make his late brother's wife pregnant, a violation of Mosaic law. He would have sinned in the same manner if he had abstained as well. 2. Videos on this channel seem to indicate a belief that separating the unitive and procreative aspects of sex within marriage is permissible when God separates them, just not when we artificially do. As I understand it that is the rationale behind NFP: "taking advantage" of the infertile periods which God has, ostensibly, ordained. What then prohibits oral sex? Does that not take advantage of a natural option that God gives us to experience the unitive act without procreation? There is nothing artificial about oral sex. It is as natural as NFP. Or what about when a husband performs oral on his wife? If Catholics believes that God intentionally designed the body (rather than it being only the result of evolution) then why did God give women an organ (the clitoris) whose sole purpose is sexual pleasure? This organ plays no direct role in conceiving or pregnancy (other than making sex more desirable for the woman). Is he aware that it is possible for a woman to have an orgasm from breast stimulation alone? It seems that in these matters God has separated the unitive (and yes, pleasurable) aspects of sex from procreation. If Catholics are sincere in their claim that "when God separates the unitive and procreative dimensions of sex it is permissible" then why this inconsistency. 3. The truth didn't change in the 1930s when Protestants started overtly accepting contraception, but our scientific understanding of conception, pregnancy, etc. did. We now have a much better understanding of how egg and sperm work. We have the scientific understanding to know that preventing an egg and sperm from joining is not the same as destroying a new human genome. Ejaculating into a condom is no different from abstaining from sex during the fertile period in terms of biology. The fate of the sperm and egg cells (death) is the same. This knowledge can prevent us from sinning by using abortifactent methods. 4. Not every woman has a clockwork/predictable cycle, thus making NFP an unreliable method of enjoying the unitive dimension of sex if procreation isn't an option (such as realizing that you don't have the resources to care for an additional child). 5. It is possible, when a husband and wife know each other's bodies extremely well, for men to have multiple orgasms. Not multiple ejaculations, but a man can learn how to have an orgasm without an ejaculation. This doesn't involve any artificial means as well. If anything it's mostly mental. I've done it. From what I have heard on this channel, Catholics (especially Dr. West of the Theology of the Body institute) seem to think that the only way a man should orgasm is to ejaculate into his wife, but what of male orgasm that doesn't produce ejaculation? Hypothetically a couple that has reached this level of sexual proficiency could have sex during the fertile period and just not take it to ejaculation. Is this natural (and frankly fantastic) ability a sin? Or is it God allowing a separation of the procreative and unitive dimensions. If so, how is this different from using a condom? How is this different than abstinence? It's keeping the egg and sperm separate. (To be fair, this is a mostly hypothetical example, as in practice the ejaculation-less orgasms typically lead to an orgasm with ejaculation later on in the "marital embrace" but I think it still shows that God gives us many legitimate means to separate the unitive/pleasurable and procreative dimensions of sex). If anything I see it as God's reward for taking the time and discipline to master one of his greatest gifts - human sexuality. Much like mastering the art of cooking allows us to enjoy the pleasurable aspects of food more greatly, sex is an art and mastering it leads to greater intimacy and, yes, pleasure within a marriage. But another main reason I am convinced that the Protestant position is correct is the lived experience I have. My wife and I have two wonderful children who we adore, but recognize that we are not equipped to handle more than that, so I had a vasectomy. I see it now as I saw it then, as a way to sacrificially love my wife, undergoing the procedure (which is rather simple and not very painful, you're a bit sore for a day or two) myself rather than subject her to a more invasive surgery, or hormonal methods (which I don't like due to their side effects). Rather than our sexual relationship "devolving" into me seeking pleasure from her as an object, or her doing the same for me, if anything our physical intimacy has deepened. I enjoy sex more when I know she is enjoying it. She has told me (and demonstrates) that she feels the same way. Our marital embrace is an absolutely spiritual union, and I firmly believe that the strength of that intimacy does reflect the way that Jesus loves the church. I've listened to Catholic speakers claim that contraception leads to the opposite outcome and damages marriages, but it simply isn't true, I have lived experience to the contrary. A common Catholic argument views contraception as the cause of rampant sexual immorality in our society today. There is a philosophical point to be made: just because something permits evil, or even makes doing evil easier, this does not make the thing evil itself. For example, drunk driving is a crime and a sin. Should we ban cars? Should we ban alcohol? Or should we recognize that the responsible use of cars is fine, the responsible use of alcohol is fine, it comes down to how they are used. Finally I will say, I have considered here and there if I should join the Catholic church. I have ultimately decided not to and while this is not the only reason why, it is a major one. I can't join a Church that holds that my wife and I are living in sin because of a deeply personal choice that we made, which benefits our marriage, that we prayerfully considered, asked for guidance from the Holy Spirit, examined the scriptures, and found no basis in scripture for it being a sin. It's not that we decided to tolerate a little sin, it's that we believe in our heart-of-hearts, after much reflection and consideration, that the Catholic church is in error here.

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You all are out to lunch.

Abstaining is not a female problem. We can abstain for months! Work and domestic life is exhausting and sex is another chore.