The Diocese of Phoenix invited parishioners to join in a discussion on the advantage of Natural Family Planning (NFP) as a way of marking the start of NFP Awareness Week on Sunday.

“It’s NFP Awareness Week, and we are celebrating God’s gifts of love and life in marriage,” the diocese posted on Facebook. “How has NFP changed your life?”

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a practice that is built on the foundation of marriage as a gift through which spouses can share in God's procreative love, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) says. NFP recognizes fertility as a gift from God that should not be rejected. Contraception, on the other hand, is considered an unnatural intervention to block the gift of fertility and is therefore viewed as a rejection of the total union of husband and wife.

Using NFP does not mean that married couples must leave their number of children up to chance. On the contrary, couples are encouraged to take part in fertility education lessons so they can practice sexual intimacy during the times in a woman's cycle during which she is naturally infertile, thereby not violating the purpose of marital intercourse. Contraception is an assertion of one's belief that he or she should have total control over the creation of life, rejecting God's design, the bishops say.

Popes have underscored NFP’s importance on several occasions. In 1996, Pope John Paul II said, ”Using the natural methods requires and strengthens the harmony of the married couple, it helps and confirms the rediscovery of the marvelous gift of parenthood, it involves respect for nature and demands the responsibility of the individuals," Vatican records show.