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secrets,” stating that, in terms of God’s plan for marriage and the family, both are essential to
understanding the mystery of redemption in Christ. 192 Through St. John Paul II’s catechesis on
the body, the role of natural family planning is understood, first of all, in light of the mystery of
creation, which offers a deeper and wider application of the natural law and moral norms. In the
preface to St. John Paul II’s published book on the Theology of the Body, Dr. John Grabowski
asserts that the Holy Father’s catechesis unveils a fresh and profoundly personal approach to the
subject of fertility and the consequent concerns regarding birth regulation. With its reference
point in the book of Genesis and its personalist view of the spousal mystery, in Dr. Grabowski’s
words, the Theology of the Body offers “a new source and a more authoritative foundation for
the traditional Catholic understanding” of Humanae Vitae’s treatment of human sexuality and
fertility. This authority comes from an integration of the moral dimension of birth regulation into
a sweeping anthropological vision of man and woman as gift to each other. This gift—this self-
donation—is both given and received with an invitation to participate in the mystery of creation,
to share in the divine spousal mystery, and to participate in the salvific grace of the mystery of
redemption in Christ. Through the lens of the couple’s fertility, enclosed in the garden of human
sexuality, the mystery of God and his divine plan for humanity reveal the intrinsic
complementarity and unity found in a proper understanding of the Theology of the Body and
natural family planning as a marriage truly made in heaven.
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“Natural Family Planning, Theology of the Body—the Church’s ‘Best-Kept Secrets’,” Catholic News
Agency/EWTN, February 11, 2015, accessed May 27, 2018, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/natural-
family-planning-theology-of-the-body-the-churchs-best-kept-secrets-84780.