In fact, when Catholics get married, this is what they say yes to before God, in their wedding vows:
"Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"
Contraception
is wrong because it’s a deliberate violation of the design God built
into the human race, often referred to as "natural law." The natural law
purpose of sex is procreation. The pleasure that sexual intercourse
provides is an additional blessing from God, intended to offer the
possibility of new life while strengthening the bond of intimacy,
respect, and love between husband and wife. The loving environment this
bond creates is the perfect setting for nurturing children.
But
sexual pleasure within marriage becomes unnatural, and even harmful to
the spouses, when it is used in a way that deliberately excludes the
basic purpose of sex, which is procreation. God’s gift of the sex act,
along with its pleasure and intimacy, must not be abused by deliberately
frustrating its natural end—procreation.
Here is what the official teaching of the Catholic Church is regarding contraception, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2370 Periodic
continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on
self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with
the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of
the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education
of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in
anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the
development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or
as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil.
What that means, of course is that Natural Family Planning
and periodic abstinence are the only ways to space out births that the
Church teaches are okay. Any and all artificial means are intrinsically
evil, which means always evil because of their very nature.
DOES THE CHURCH TEACH THAT A COUPLE MUST HAVE AS MANY CHILDREN AS THEY PHYSICALLY CAN?
No.
In decisions about family size, the married couple "will thoughtfully
take into account both their own welfare and that of their children,
those already born and those which may be foreseen. For this accounting
they will reckon with both the material and the spiritual conditions of
the times as well as of their state in life. Finally, they will consult
the interests of the family group, of temporal society, and of the
Church itself" (Gaudium et Spes, 50). WHAT DOES THE CHURCH TEACH ABOUT
AN IDEAL FAMILY SIZE? The Church has no specific teaching about an ideal
family size. As indicated previously, couples may take many factors
into consideration. On the other hand, there is a general Christian
warning against decision-making based solely on materialistic factors.
Life is a gift to be shared, and the Christian couple are called to be
generous in the service of life according to their circumstances. For
example, Pope John Paul II has noted that "decisions about the number of
children and the sacrifices to be made for them must not be taken only
with a view to adding comfort and preserving a peaceful existence.
Reflecting upon this matter before God, with the graces drawn from the
Sacrament, and guided by the teaching of the Church, parents will remind
themselves that it is certainly less serious to deny their children
certain comforts or material advantages than to deprive them of the
presence of brothers or sisters who could help them to grow in humanity
and to realize the beauty of life at all ages and in all its
variety."[2]
Yes, God loves making babies in
unison with a married man and his wife. God loves it when you trust in
Him totally to make the right decision regarding the number of kids you
will have. Trusting more in chemicals and latex instead is something
everyone will have to answer for one day, if they use artificial birth
control.
There has even been evidence that artificial birth control agents are being slipped into vaccines for other diseases, so that the side effect is sterilization, and that is a really shocking thing.
1 Timothy 2:15: Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.
Luke
23:29: For behold, the days are coming when they will say, `Blessed are
the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never
gave suck!'
Genesis 9:1: And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
Psalm 127:4-5:
Like
arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth. Happy is
the man who has his quiver full of them! He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Reference
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