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 [...]
One of the fruits of the Council and the New Evangelization as a whole is the lay apostolate: lay men and women discerning and identifying ways to use their gifts and vocations to serve the Church. That is why I’m featuring a new apostolate that launches TODAY right here in my home state. It’s an apostolate [...]
Dear Discerning Young Catholic, Underachieving in the realm of morality has become so commonplace in our world that we have begun to pretend that sin is transcendent behavior just to make ourselves feel better. There is nothing transcendent about sleeping with someone on the first date, but these days an astounding number of romance movies [...]
I used to have a big yellow bumper sticker stuck to my car’s rear windshield. In red letters, it said CHASTITY IS FOR LOVERS. I’m fairly certain our culture begs to differ, as evidenced by various statistics (88 percent of unmarried people between the ages 18 and 29 are sexually active*) and by a reader who [...]
The blogosphere has been abuzz about all the sex The Bachelor isn’t having. It’ll be abuzz again now that his engagement is public. This started when America discovered that Sean Lowe, this season’s star of ABC’s The Bachelor, is a “born again virgin” – somebody who is saving sex from now on for marriage. And [...]
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ’Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” - John 12:27-28 A few weeks ago I read over these verses in the Catechism. I’ve always loved these verses because they showcase Jesus’ humanity [...]
Single men and women who living out faithful lives in the Church are often met with tension with regards to what it means to be seemingly vocationless or “in limbo”. Fortunately, there are a number of people in the Church (leaders, religious, priests, and single lay Catholics themselves) who are working tirelessly to address the [...]
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 [...]
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” – Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” – NLT “With closest custody, guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life” – NAB “Keep your heart with all vigilance, [...]
I live in Christchurch, New Zealand. A city that over the past few years has been struck by several large earthquakes. As a result our city doesn’t have that many buildings left standing. Most of our churches are gone. Masses are celebrated in halls or parish centres. Whole parishes themselves don’t exist and our city is [...]
If you mention the word “celibacy” on your local street corner today, you will probably not get a favorable response. It will more than likely spark a conversation about recent tabloid news involving sex scandals, homosexuality, or other negative publicity. Or, it may conjure up images of monasteries, cobblestone streets, and oil filled lamps. And [...]
The Feature of Florida, the Rockin’ Wave of the West Coast of the Atlantic, the Goodness of the Gulf, Arleen Spenceley asked for a guest post on pre-marital counseling. Here is part of my response with linkage to “the rest of the story.” Arleen also contributes over here too. Why am I proponent of pre-marital [...]
I’m not saving myself for marriage. First, I know no follower of Christ who thinks any of us can save ourselves. Secondly, to say “I’m saving myself” when you mean “I’m saving sex” equates who you are – and therefore your worth – with sex. But your worth is wrapped up in nothing except your [...]
From the Roman collar to the brown scapular, the Church has developed a plethora of physical signs one can sport to testify to his faith or vocation. A more recent one which- though not invented by the Church- is gaining popularity not only in various Christians circles but also in Catholic communities, is the purity [...]
…. at least this woman. I know that statement is rarely if ever viewed positively but that is who I want my future husband to be. God given. I do have a slight romantic streak but I do not think of myself as overly romantic or unrealistic so I know he is out there and [...]
The morning after my future sister’s wedding, my fiance and I attended the family brunch and were asked the question: short or long engagement? B. said “short” and I said “long” – the listeners laughed. We’ve been engaged for eight months now; four more months to go. It’s been a struggle intertwined with the joy [...]
Last year, Sr. Lisa challenged me to examine my vocation and I did… kind of. Tony called me on my bull you-know-what, correctly so. I spent the next while asking a lot of questions I never wanted to fully explore.
In the last few months since I subscribed to Auntie Seraphic,* I have repeatedly seen the acronyms “NCB” and “NCG” plastered all over the single young adult Catholic blogosphere. I was mystified at first until slowly, by examining the context and by repetition, I learned that they stand for “Nice Catholic Boy” and “Nice Catholic [...]
Life has a way of coming up and tossing you the unexpected, and I encountered a new twist in life just recently when I got engaged. You see, for years I had prayed, dreamed and waited for that special someone to come into my life. I surrounded myself with like-minded girlfriends and my beloved sisters. [...]
“You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have eyes to see” Mother Teresa profoundly remarks in this video (at about 2:20). She explains that, “Material poverty you can always satisfy with material. The unwanted, the unloved, the uncared, the forgotten, the lonely: this is much greater poverty” (at 4:15). There are many that [...]
Allow me to take you way, way back in time….all the way to 2007! (Hey, five years is a lot when you’re still in high school.) I had moved from Connecticut to Texas the year before, and was finally getting around to reconnecting with all my friends from back East. I didn’t have Facebook, so [...]
I remember sitting with my close friend “Ken” late one evening. He was fairly depressed because he had broken up with his girlfriend (who was another close friend of mine). We talked into the night dissecting the “failure” of the relationship. At one point, in exasperation, Ken said something to the effect of “I still keep people [...]
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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