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 [...]
“You’re crazy.” Well, thanks for your kindness and tolerance in regards to my way of life. We hear a lot about tolerance and accepting others nowadays, but this is usually the response I get from people when I tell them that my husband and I don’t use contraception. Let me tell you, I love when [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
To pursue, or to be pursued? That is the question. ‘Tis nobler in the mind to date until your breath is taken, or heart is broken… Dating – in the man-meets-woman, man-asks-woman-out way**- may sound outdated to those more liberated in their feelings. Instead, people get to know each other by hanging out and never [...]
“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 [...]
No, really. Can we? A few months ago, my husband and I were invited to give a talk on sex and marriage at a retreat for engaged couples. Now and then , we observe how sometimes, there can be a lot of theological talking around issues of sexuality, yet not a whole lot of actually diving into them. We [...]
My Sisters The Saints: A Powerful Journey I found My Sisters The Saints, Colleen Carroll Campbell’s new book, in my stocking on the morning of St. Nicholas Day, opened it, and could not put it down. Where Campbell’s first book, The New Faithful, was based on interviews and chronicled the tendency toward orthodoxy among the [...]
“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 [...]
We are soaked in blood. I am soaked in blood. There is so much blood everywhere we look, that we’ve stopped recognizing it. I’ve stopped recognizing it. I have not noticed its slow drip, drip, drip into my soul, choking out the love of God and neighbor that should be growing. Sowing instead seeds of [...]
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 [...]
I feel I can speak for many people that Catholic teaching on sexuality comes across most of the time as a big laundry list of NOs. For example: no masturbating, no fantasizing about sex, no acting out same sex attraction, no extra-marital affairs, no contraception, etc. There is nothing wrong with that, on one hand. [...]
Flying home, the college lady next to me mentioned she was in a “complicated” relationship with someone back home. I smiled and said I’d been there. “Make sure you draw clear lines,” I said. “Relationships don’t have to be complicated.” Perhaps this sounds too simplistic – as I fear the lady took it – because [...]
My life is about to change. In about one month, I will be getting married to the love of my life. To say that things are already getting hectic would be an understatement. Between working, moving out of my parent’s home into a new apartment and assisting in wedding plans (let’s be real here, my [...]
There seems to be a growing idea in our world today that we don’t actually need men for much more than their “contribution” to the furthering of the human race. This idea has become so prevalent that an opinion piece about it has made its way to the New York Times. Greg Hampikian, the author [...]
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary: in truth – certainly or: truly, confidently. This is the meaning of the word verily. A name which now graces the front of a new magazine for women. Lauched in the spring of 2012, by a group of young women, this magazine seeks to engage women in a real conversation about [...]
There were a few words, often repeated in the news coverage of the recent Colorado shooting by James Holmes, which stood out to me like red signal lights: “loner who said little and was easily forgotten”, “kept to himself” and “didn’t seem to have many friends.”
Yesterday I went to Mass before going to work. It was only a weekday Mass, even if it was the feast of the Presentation, so the church was mostly empty. One of the things about this parish that I don’t particularly care for is that at the sign of peace, everyone leaves their pew and [...]
This week, as part of vocations week, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Fr. Jason Vidrine‘s middle school class in Louisiana (via Skype), to discuss religious life. After briefly introducing myself and why I became a sister, the floor was opened up for them to ask questions. One wanted to know what I do for [...]
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?
If you are interested in contributing at IGNITUM TODAY, and you are a young adult between the ages of 14-39 who is faithful to the Magisterium, please tell us a little about yourself.
Click here.
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.