If you know a young person who is a high school junior or senior you might want to pass this advice on to him or her. If you are a high school senior you are probably giving some serious thought to life after graduation.  And even if you are still a junior you may already be thinking about what you will do after you graduate.  Welcome to adulthood! Quite often young people get overloaded with worldly advice. You may be advised to “choose a career that you really like.”  Or you may hear “pick a profession that you can excel in,” or even to “pick a profession that will provide you ..read more

In addition to its early Gothic architecture and stunning simplicity, my residence in Fossanova Abbey also boasts the chapel where Saint Thomas Aquinas died. While COVID has greatly reduced the number of present visitors, past summers were filled with tourists, many of whom quite literally left their mark on the place. The chapel walls are covered with graffitied inscriptions, most attesting to some form of love in a rather standard format: two names, typically inside a heart, the date, and perhaps a further wish. For instance, right in front of Aquinas, instead of reading the Angelic Doctor’s ..read more

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of ads implying that singleness, or at least childlessness, is a great thing. The implications range from a women’s subscription box called “Single Swag,” to an adults-only cruise line, and, even, on the more extreme end, multiple people who “married” themselves. While I don’t see anything wrong with occasional treats like subscription boxes and cruises (though attempting to marry oneself has its own set of problems) this overt obsession with singleness and childlessness reveals some problems of first-world society. The Glorification of Singleness ..read more

Mystics and theologians have long and often used romance as a metaphor for our relationship with God. Many of the challenges we face in our spiritual life are reflected in our love lives, particularly in our responses to the other. Some people are uncomfortable with the metaphor or get offended by it, but it has a long history in our faith. Think of the Song of Solomon: What other reason would a wedding poem fairly reeking of eroticism be doing in the Bible? But if it’s true our relationships with God are reflected in our romances, then I grow uncomfortable. You see, I’m romantically-challenge ..read more

Today’s dating scene has dramatically changed the scope of courtship with the use of technology and smartphones significantly impacting how people communicate. Going on a date doesn’t appear to be “as important” to develop a romantic relationship, especially among the younger generations.  Some would even say its taboo. Is technology a hindrance in the dating community, negatively impacting the formation of deep, romantic, committed relationships? While some argue this approach has its successes, traditional dating should still be the prime method to help form profound long-lasting qualit ..read more

Actress Alyssa Milano ignited social media with a tweet last Friday night calling for women to return to chastity. Although her nonsectarian phrase is “sex-strike,” the outcome is nevertheless the same: chastity. Sex between a woman and man has a risk of pregnancy of course, and “we just cannot risk pregnancy,” she stated. But chastity has been the position of the Catholic Church since its inception. One of the earliest known documents, written before some New Testament Scriptures, explains that Christians shall not kill, shall not commit adultery, shall not corrupt youth, shall not commit for ..read more

The lives of the saints captivate me.  The Church, in her wisdom, elevates various saints as witnesses of what a life fully embracing Christ can look like. Quite intentionally, I believe, these lives cover a broad spectrum so as to emphasize the reality that each person, in their own way, can be a saint. There is no “cookie cutter” saint or one ideal for which to strive. During the Liturgical Year, the Church invites us to commemorate a host of saints, the ones, that is, who lived charity to the full, who knew how to love and follow Christ in their daily lives. They tell us that it is po ..read more

I would never date outside the Church at this point in my life, although I know good people exist outside the Church. Some of the most touching moments in scripture are those in which Christ finds faith outside the Jewish community. My favorite example is the Roman soldier who says, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof” (Luke 7:6). I am forever amazed by Jesus’ response: “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (7:9). At heart, Jesus is saying that he has come to call everyone. Still, I would never date outside of the Church ..read more

Lili Loofbourow wishes ‘we lived in a world that encouraged women to attend to their bodies’ pain signals instead of powering through like endurance champs. It would be grand if women (and men) were taught to consider a woman’s pain abnormal,’ But a woman’s pain is normal. The Church is the first to teach us that ‘no one can escape the experience of suffering’ (CCC 385) and women are no exception. Suffering is Normal for Women Women suffer more than men. Apart from the various studies that observe this, we can appeal to common sense to find evidence of this fact. It is normal for a w ..read more

  Looking back on my life I can truly say, God has been very patient with me and also very gracious toward me. But it took me quite some time to be able to see and understand that. I was fortunate, while growing up, to have good parents who both had a strong Catholic faith. And they loved each other.  They didn’t just say the words, they actually showed how much they loved each other.  And they took their wedding vows seriously.  They stayed together for better or for worse.  My parents’ example made me desire that same kind of love for myself. I grew up believing tha ..read more