You’re probably expecting me to say something about strapless dresses and not showing too much skin, but I’m not. Okay, I can’t resist so here’s my opinion on the subject: Don’t be trashy, The Dress is about your wedding day, not your wedding night. With wedding season upon us, what I really want to talk [...]
The world is constantly telling women that we aren’t good enough. We go unseen, unsought, unpursued, and this all leads us to believe that we are unworthy. Unworthy of what, you ask? Unworthy of happiness, joy, love, peace, and any good thing that life could offer us. These lies, straight from the mouth of Satan, [...]
In honour of Mother’s Day… A fellow writer recently asked somebody to write something positive about motherhood. She said “Some of us not-yet-moms are scared of motherhood because all we hear is that you’re miserable and debilitated for nine months, then have a day of the most excruciating pain ever, then you don’t sleep for [...]
Have you ever seen the letters “WWJD?” The phrase “What Would Jesus Do” appears on bumper stickers, wristbands, coffee mugs and various other tchotchkes from time to time. As a young mother, however, I often find myself asking, “What Would Mary Do?” To me, Mary, the Mother of God, is an amazing model of perfect motherhood. She was [...]
I don’t really like abstinence. Wait. What? I certainly think restraint is valuable–I resist the kind of trips where you go to Target for two things and come out with ten. I try not to eat meat on Fridays. I teach NFP. In some cases, however, particularly the case of sexuality, abstinence seems to miss [...]
A couple summers ago, I yelled “gonads!” across a classroom of laughing grad students. We wiped tears and covered red faces while during the first session of our human sexuality class, we shouted all the sex words we knew. Our professor – sex therapist Dae Sheridan – made a list of them on the board. [...]
After listening to a great talk issued by Lighthouse Catholic Media’s new young adult line, Truth be Told, I found myself greatly in need of an emotional chastity makeover. The talk, entitled “Why Do Women Do That?” and given by Lisa Cotter, examined the way a woman’s mind works, how men should best respond, and [...]
I’m processing something and think that maybe writing this out is the best way to find some explanation for it. I’m certain there are others out there wrestling with the same facts so let’s work through this one together. I am sitting here tonight preoccupied with images of angry, topless women in Brussels throwing water [...]
More often than not in life we remember criticisms more than we remember compliments. When someone asks me to recall the last time I received a compliment it takes me at least twice as long to recall than if someone asked me to regurgitate the last insult or criticism thrown my way. Chances are that [...]
Did any of you catch the recent “Princeton mom” flap? Princeton alumna Susan Patton, in an open letter to women attending Princeton, advised that they should find a husband in college–otherwise they’d wind up divorced from a not-very-smart man they’d meet later in life. (Ouch!) Then Kathleen Gerson fired back, countering that it’s objectively better for young women to marry later in life. And then Ross Douthat [...]
Aside from the good stuff like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a lot of questionable things came out of the 80s. Perms, spandex, Rick Astley…if there’s a kernel of truth from that decade, though, it’s this: love is a battlefield. Thanks, Pat Benatar. Seriously, during my engagement, I became more aware of spiritual warfare than I ever had before, [...]
Like any woman pregnant for the first time, I was full of hope and daydreams. I knew exactly how I wanted my son to come into the world. On his own time, my water would break. My husband and I would rush to pack up the car and speed up the road to the hospital. [...]
Happy Holy Week everybody! In this edition of The Warrior Catholic Show, we take a look at Christ’s Passion. In the overwhelming commercialism of the holidays, it can be hard to keep a true perspective of the religious aspect and the true meaning of what we are actually celebrating. Christ’s Passion was the fulfillment of [...]
Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus As Good Friday fast approaches, we pause and reflect on his Passion and Death in the Stations of the Cross. At the sixth station we find a woman of inner strength, courage and faith. In a particular way, as women, we can look to Veronica in her feminine [...]
Years of praying, lighting candles, and asking for the intercession of any saint that would have me culminated on June 5th, 2005 when I married the love of my life. As the day was quickly approaching, many people were eager to share their words of wisdom, prayers, and good wishes. I have difficulty recalling much [...]
I bet not everyone gets to learn about contraception with the help of a Slip N’ Slide. Seriously. Born and raised Catholic, I learned somewhere along the way that the Church never permits artificial forms of birth control, but until I attended this particular gathering of my high school youth group, the one involving said [...]
If you will, think for a moment about all the controversy and disagreement on the issue of abortion as if it were playing out on a huge chess board. Imagine the opposing sides facing off in a battle to win the decisions of women about what to do in instances of pregnancy; pro-choice and abortion [...]
I’ve grown quite weary of listening to Cecile Richards and Kathleen Sebelius drone on about their supposed concern for my “reproductive choices” and my “health care”. Haven’t you? They remind me of those little dolls I used to play with as a child–the dolls that came with a string attached that, when pulled, would play a [...]
The more movies I watch, the more I become convinced that-while a twisting plot or surprise ending may make a film enjoyable-the characters are what can make it memorable. While it seems like every other movie coming out this year includes some sort of racy romance or erotic excitement, the plot lines and basic stories [...]
Ah, beauty. We’re tempted to pluck a couple more eyebrow hairs, worry about the color of our shirts, look in the mirror one more time. Or, under the guise of being modest and counter-cultural, we don shapeless denim jumpers, long skirts and tennis shoes, thwarting any glance that might come our way. Either way, every [...]
A new episode of BioTalk, in which Rebecca Taylor and I talk about all things bioethics — especially issues related to human biotechnology — is finally here! In this episode, we talk about scientists experimenting with “three parent embryos” and the “Brave New” United States where there are no restrictions on this or other once [...]
Grateful for the invitation to talk about chastity on Tell Me More, NPR’s nationally syndicated radio show hosted by Michel Martin. I was part of a panel of women – Monique Matthews, an author from Los Angeles and Lisa Marziali, from the first episode of TLC’s The Virgin Diaries - who also have committed to saving sex [...]
I’ve been reading a book of the letters of Blessed Zélie Martin titled A Call to a Deeper Love. There’s much I could say about her and her writing, but one thing that has stuck with me is: We’re not on this earth for our enjoyment. Those who expect to enjoy life are very wrong [...]
If one thing stands out about a trip I took to South Beach back in May, it’s this: I have never seen so much butt on a beach. Our first day there, I stepped off the boardwalk behind the hotel and onto the sand, far too close for comfort to a woman who – while holding [...]
Q. How do you pronounce “ignitum”? A. Well, you have some options. The Romans would have said ig-NEE-toom. In church, we’d say “in-YEE-toom.”
Why?
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