Catholic Sexual Teaching - An Invitation to Reality Lust and Counterfeit Sexuality We live in a throw-away society. Fast food and plastic plates — our culture is full of the cheap and easy. Unfortunately, this mentality bleeds into our sexuality. America is obsessed...
Marriage is truly an adventure that requires careful packing. After saying "yes," you leave your childhood home, bid your farewells, say your see-you-laters (definitely not goodbyes), pack your entire life into a handful of suitcases, and embark on a new journey with...
I have the great blessing of having three adopted siblings. After having six biological children, my parents decided to adopt three more. They are incredibly generous people, and I think are perhaps strongly against the idea of spending any time at all in purgatory,...
Dating is easy today, right? Hardly. It’s never been easy; but especially in a social media world—and after the pandemic, nothing can be taken for granted. This is literally uncharted territory. And yet, human nature remains fundamentally the same in so many...
Four years ago, my future seemed clear to me. I thought I’d spend my days living in small-town Minnesota and ministering to country parishes as their priest. I love my home state, and I love the people there very much, but God had other plans. After...
Online dating has never been more popular. In fact, the trend suggests that online dating may become the norm rather than a supplemental tactic. A recent study showed 19% of internet users in the US said they were currently using an online dating app or...
“Well, the children have always come first” is a remark that echoes in the offices of too many marriage therapists. Imagine if their wedding vows had been, “I, John, take you, Jane, to be my beloved wife. I promise to stand by idly, but with deep emotional pain...
As you may know, many couples use fertility-awareness methods like Natural Family Planning (NFP) to try to become pregnant, but NFP can also help couples carrying the cross of infertility. Learning about the body’s signs and signals of fertility can often reveal...
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a beautiful and effective way for married couples to remain open to life while also following Church teaching against contraception. For many couples, NFP can be a way for them to grow closer to each other and as a couple grow closer...
Need some help learning or relearning Natural Family Planning (NFP), Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), the Marquette Method, Boston Cross Check™, or the Billings Ovulation Method®? Here is a list of providers that offer virtual courses so that you can learn these...
Truly, Lent is a time to be solemn and focused on our Lord in his journey to the Cross. But as a couple, it still remains important to be united with our beloved through time together and conversation. A Lent themed date night could be a perfect combination of these...
This beautiful spoken-word piece titled “A Crucifixion Type Love” was written and performed by Brent Rice and, although (disclaimer) we don't know much about Mr. Rice and his personal religious beliefs, there is no doubt that his poetry is stunning, passionate, and a...
One of the best things about the Catholic Church (which of course, there are many, many things) is the communion of saints. The wisdom and holiness of the men and women who have gone before us can guide us toward the light that is Christ. There are few areas of our...
Living the natural family planning lifestyle can sometimes feel like a solo hike up a steep mountain. We start off excited, convicted (by the science and Church teaching), and as prepared as we can be for this beautiful endeavor. A few miles in, we are facing an...
Natural family planning has the potential to bring out either our best or our worst traits as people and as spouses. There’s nothing quite like sacrificing our own physical desires (think along the lines of dieting or...
It is estimated that 1 in 6 couples struggle to get pregnant. Infertility is often a hidden suffering, and is even considered a “normal,” albeit temporary, difficulty encountered in some marriages, but easily fixed if the couple...
Every year over a million children experience the divorce of their parents, and at least one-quarter of all young adults are children of divorce. And those numbers grow when you include people whose parents never married but later split up, or those whose parents...
oday's video could be useful for illustrating the daily quarrels that we can all relate to. Although I myself am not married and am on my way towards the priesthood, more than once I have witnessed –with a bit of awe to be honest–the surprising...
It doesn’t take long when first discovering the world of natural family planning to realize that most couples have a love/hate relationship with NFP. The reasons to love it are obvious and the reasons to hate it are obvious. It is a strange mix of sweet...
Open to life. We’ve all heard it, and for the most part, think we know what it means. For those who are outside the Church, or perhaps those Catholics who have done little more than get their feet wet in this beautiful thing we call Catholicism, the...
Let’s face it. As wonderful as the idea of Natural Family Planning (NFP) can sound, the reality for many couples can be far from that beautiful ideal. A common thread amongst frustrated couples trudging their way through the trenches of NFP is that the...
Chaste dating is no walk in the park, but it is possible. We’ve been in relationships in the past that were unchaste and ended very badly. When we started courting, we didn’t want to repeat the same habits from our past relationships, so we had to do things...
Have you ever thought, "Wow, I want to have a great marriage...how does that happen?" The answer is simple - prayer. Here are three simple ways to implement prayer in your relationship and form a strong, intimate relationship with your spouse. Schedule It This may...
If someone asked you what was said in the Nuptial Blessing at a wedding, would you know? Probably not. This rather lengthy prayer is tucked between the Exchange of Consent and the Our Father and if you aren't paying attention, you may miss one of the most beautiful...
What I Notice About My Wife I am by no means a perfect husband. I have many faults and do not always show my wife how much I love her. Even when I do not mention the things I see, I do notice quite a bit. Here is what I notice. I notice when my wife gets up early to...