Natural Family Planning

Announcements

• It is not too early to think about the 2015 National NFP Awareness Week which will be celebrated on July 19-25. As our staff begins to develop the 2015 theme, please feel free to send us your suggested slogans. Send all ideas to nfp@usccb.org.
  

• On October 19th, 2014 the Extraordinary Synod on the Family closed and the beatification of the Servant of God Pope Paul VI was celebrated. We remember Pope Paul VI with deep gratitude for his prophetic insights into conjugal love and responsible parenthood especially as seen in his 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae.

  Please join us in asking for the intercession of Pope Paul VI for all families, that they may joyfully discover and live God's beautiful plan for married love and life. Servant of God Pope Paul VI, pray for us! More...
  

• Alice and Jeff Heinzen, a married couple, parents of three adult children, grandparents, NFP teachers, and long-time marriage ministers from the Diocese of LaCrosse, were selected to be auditors at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family in Rome. Read their reflection which they presented to the synod fathers on October 7th here. (Read more ...)
  

• The Instrumentum Laboris, the agenda of the October 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family, is posted on the Vatican's website. Entitled, The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization this document provides a substantive reflection on the major challenges facing the family in the early twenty-first century as well as articulates certain pastoral challenges. The work from this Extraordinary Synod will direct the 2015 general Synod.
  
  
• Please visit our education page for healthcare professionals!
  See: NFP Education for Healthcare Professionals
  

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Resources

• FACTS launches website-www.factsaboutfertility.org. Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Systems (FACTS), is comprised of NFP physicians, leaders and educators. Their mission is to educate healthcare professionals, especially physicians, on the science and methods of NFP.
  
  
• New "Theology of the Body" Video Series available from David Hajduk, a theologian, husband and father with over twenty years of experience in religious education, youth, family life, and Pro-Life ministries. The first video (The Beginning) is now posted on Hajduk's website. Additional videos are forthcoming.  For more information, visit the website of David Hajduk.
  
  
• Billings Charting App available from www.nfpcharting.com. Lawson Culver, the talent behind NFPCharting.com has now launched an android app for Billings users to chart their fertility cycles from the ease of their smart phones. For more information visit: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nfpcharting.
  
  
• The St. Augustine Foundation has developed a new website to help you educate on NFP and Catholic teaching on human sexuality, the virtue of chastity, marriage, conjugal love and responsible parenthood. A special feature are brief courses tailored to young adults. Also included is a video of interviews with Catholic physicians. See catholicsexuality.com.
  
  
• BOMA-USA Billings Ovulation Method Association has available the second edition of the book, A Preachable Message. For couples who would like to learn the Billings Method online, WOOMB offers distance education. Contact: Sue Ek at boma-usa@msn.com.
  

• Women, Sex, and the Church; A Case for Catholic Teaching, (Erika Bachiochi, ed.), is  written by women who challenge "the common misconceptions that the Catholic Church's teachings are anti-women and anti-sex." This book offers a variety of faithful Catholic women writing on such issues as: love, sex, reproduction, women in the home, and women in the world. A teaching guide designed especially for students of law, feminist theory, and sexual and social ethics is also available. See: Women, Sex and the Church.
  
  
• Now available, the video, "Saying I Do:  What Happens at a Catholic Wedding," introduces viewers to the Roman Catholic Rite of Marriage and answers frequently asked questions about Catholic marriage. This 22-minute video is available for free on the homepage of the For Your Marriage Website.
  

• On-line Introduction to the Billings Method  Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago this on-line course provides an introduction to the science of NFP and the Billings Method in particular. A special feature is a video of the NFP couple who teach and witness to living the NFP lifestyle. Supplemental materials such as PDF documents for further reading are also included. Register online. For more information contact: Maria Garcia, NFP Coordinator, Archdiocese of Chicago, (312) 534-8273; e-mail: mgarcia@archchicago.org.
  

• On-Line Marriage Preparation  Developed by the Archdiocese of Chicago, this program allows engaged couples to experience a qualified Catholic Pre-Cana program completely at their convenience through the Internet. Interested? See: Online Marriage Prep.
  
  
• Catholic Marriage Prep is an on-line resource and part of Agape Catholic Ministries in the Diocese of Colorado Springs.. It allows for both marriage prep and NFP classes in person or on the web. To find out more visit  their website
  

• Need NFP resources to give to your parish priest? See the "Clergy Packet" published by the Couple to Couple League.

• Daughters Forever, Sons Forever: Helping Parents Connect with Teens on Important Issues by Linda Kracht, is a resource for Catholic parents who wish to counter negative cultural messages and raise faithful teens. The book tackles such topics as gender, vocations, and fertility. The book and study guides can be purchased by visiting Fortifying Families of Faith.

• Read about six resident physicians in the department of OB/GYN who plan to specialize in NFP!

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