- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Abortion, Catholic Spirituality, Catholics Do What?, Contraception, Homosexuality, Marriage, Sex, Theology of the Body
Catholics, sex, and marriage: the elevator pitch
Sex is good. It isn’t dirty or naughty or some kind of half-hearted concession to our fallen animalistic nature…it is good, just as it was good in the beginning. Be fruitful and multiply, He said. And…
- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Abortion, Bioethics, Catholics Do What?, Contraception, Culture of Death, IVF, NFP
What does the Catholic Church say about IVF?
Mouthful of a title, right? Let’s just say I’m doing it for Google’s sake. So, painfully obvious disclaimer: I am neither a bioethicist nor a theologian. Well, not officially, anyway. I’ve got 2 semesters of grad theology…
- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Catholics Do What?, Pornography, Theology of the Body, Women's Rights
The modesty wars
I’ve been rolling this one around in my skull today in between bouts of toddler WWF-style throw downs. I don’t know why they have to bite each other, but I guess if it’s important to them, I…
- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Abortion, Bioethics, Catholics Do What?, Contraception, Marriage, Sex, Theology of the Body, vasectomies
I’m Catholic, can I get a vasectomy/tubal ligation?
There have been a number of questions about permanent sterilization during this month-long series, and while I wrote a post on it a while back, I think it deserves a fuller treatment, and a more nuanced explanation.…
When NFP is hard to swallow
The funny thing about talking shop about NFP (Natural Family Planning) with other users is that the conversation, either online or in person, usually goes one of two ways. Exhibit A: NFP blows. Meet my fourth daughter,…
- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Catholic Spirituality, Catholics Do What?, Sex, Theology of the Body
JPII, we still need you
A couple of decades ago the world was introduced to a new kind of pope when Cardinal Karol Wojtyla stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s, arms held high in greeting to a massive crowd who could…
Suffer the children: the highest cost of divorce
Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with a fabulously talented writer and speaker who was in town to give a lecture on motherhood. Since the event was in the evening, she had some time…
- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Catholics Do What?, Contraception, Family Life, infertility, Marriage, NFP
Let’s talk about “openness to life”
In a Catholic wedding, just before the exchange of vows, the priest or deacon receiving the couple’s promises to one another and to God asks a series of three questions. I thought they were part of the…
A little porn never hurt anybody
I escaped from momdom for a couple hours this afternoon and found myself with a hour left on the baby-sitter-meter and nary an errand or appointment to occupy my remaining 60 minutes of freedom. I have a…
- 31 Days of Writing with the Nester, Catholic Spirituality, Catholics Do What?, Marriage, Sex, Theology of the Body
Why does the Catholic Church care about what I do in my bedroom?
This is a valid question, and it’s one that gets asked frequently, especially in our sexually schizophrenic culture. On the one hand, we’re super freaked out by the idea of anybody, for any reason, asking anything about…
