Thursday of the
Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 9:1-8)
Fifty years ago Pope St. Paul VI made a prophetic statement. In his encyclical Humanae Vitae Pope Paul said that artificial birth control will
lead to disregard for women. He reasoned
that when husbands grow accustomed to contraception, many will no longer look
on their wives primarily as equal partners in the creation of a family. Rather, he said, they will see them more as objects
of sexual desire. Pope Paul suffered great
unpopularity, even ridicule for the stand he took. He may be seen as another Amos as pictured in
today’s first reading.
Amos has exhorted Israel to reform its ways. He has criticized especially the royalty for
not giving leadership that truly trusts in the Lord. As a result, he is ostracized by the high
priest and told to go home. His prophecy
that Jeroboam will die by the sword evidently did not come to pass as
predicted. However, the northern kingdom
of Israel was exiled with the Assyrian invasion.
Even Catholics have a hard time accepting that the sexual
revolution engineered by artificial contraception has led to great misery. Physical and emotional poverty caused by
absent fathers is prevalent in both wealthy and poor nations. Sexual desire has a tremendous hold on
humans. This in itself desire is not
bad; rather, it is quite magnificent.
But such a powerful force needs to be checked by reason constructing prudent
laws to guide the will.
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