”This Is My Body, Given Up for You” | NFP, Grandparents, and the Gift of Life | Sunday Homily 7.27.25

Every time we go to Mass, we hear the words: “This is my body, given up for you.” But what does that mean for us—in our marriages, our families, and our daily choices?

 

In this powerful homily, given during Natural Family Planning Awareness Week and on World Day for Grandparents, we reflect on the bold witness of St. Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae, the beauty and challenge of living God’s plan for love, and how surrendering our bodies in love—whether in parenting, grandparenting, marriage, or spiritual sacrifice—mirrors Christ’s gift to us in the Eucharist.

 

We also explore:

• Why the Church continues to teach openness to life

• The pain and witness of infertility

• How grandparents (like Saints Joachim and Anne) shape the faith of future generations

• Why “witnesses” are more powerful than words

 

Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, single, married, or longing for children, this message reminds us all: we are called to give ourselves in love, just as Jesus gave Himself for us.

 

🙏 For NFP resources or doctor recommendations go to https://www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family-planning/what-natural-family-planning