August 2018

Unofficial Patron Saint of C-sections

Anyone who’s had one could tell you that c-sections are far from easy. Beyond the standard post-partum challenges of balancing regular duties with keeping a fragile human alive, there’s also the added inconvenience of an abdominal incision. Healing from a major surgery like that isn’t a joke. Things can be made even harder if there…

Sts. Monica and Augustine, Persist with Us

Yesterday was the feast of St. Monica, the mother of persistence, and today we celebrate the feast of her brilliant and influential son, St. Augustine. These feasts are timely, arriving in the midst of religious uncertainty and crisis. This woman — whose persistent prayers converted the hearts of her family and produced one of the…

NBC Misreports Family Planning Statistics

On Friday, NBC News released a news piece covering the reactions of various Ob-Gyns to the recent FDA approval granted to Natural Cycles, the first app to officially qualify as a contraceptive. But there are a few important elements that NBC misrepresented. The Rhythm Method The NBC article starts with a glaring mistake: comparing Natural…

CANFP Convention Attracts 500+ People

“Faithful to God’s Design,” which consisted of several separate events from July 25-28, took place in Ontario, CA, just outside of Los Angeles. The main convention, July 27-28, turned out well with an attendance of more than 500 individuals, couples, priests, DREs and more. Based on an unofficial poll of hands during a keynote, well over…

First FA App Receives FDA Approval

On August 10, 2018 FDA granted approval to Natural Cycles as a software application for contraception. This marks the first time the FDA has approved a fertility charting medical device for use as a contraceptive. Previous devices have been approved as aids to conception but carried the caution they are not to be used for…

Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation

We would like to invite you to join the CCL staff in praying for our Church. We will be offering the Chaplet for Adoration and Reparation beginning today, August 22 (the feast of the Queenship of Mary), and will continue for 40 days. Our prayers will be offered in reparation for failures within the Church…

CCL Awards TCs at 50th Anniversary Convention

At last month’s 50th anniversary convention, we were thrilled to be able to award a handful of volunteers and influencers for their exceptional work supporting NFP couples and promoting the good news of God’s plan for family and married life. First, the Konald A. Prem Award bears the name of the doctor who helped CCL…

4 Totally Wrong Assumptions about NFP

You know what happens when Mary assumes? We get a Holy Day of Obligation. You know what happens when you assume? Hundreds of couples miss out on the beauty of NFP. So, here are four common assumptions about NFP. 1) It’s basically just the rhythm method. The rhythm method is to NFP what bloodletting is…

Transfigured

The world around us tells us in a million ways that we are nothing special. Most of all, it tells us that the gift of our sexuality is nothing special — in fact, it’s a big problem. We manipulate our hormones, poison ourselves, make war on healthy organs, or place physical barriers between us, trying…

St. Jean Vianney and NFP

I’m sure I’m not the only parish priest who tends to daydream when thinking of what happened in the village of Ars during the pastorate of Fr. Jean Vianney. In 1818 when he was first assigned the parish was lukewarm, with at most a few people at daily Mass and hardly any regular Communicants. By…