Catholic family life Archives

Teen fertility awareness: Helping our daughters reclaim the true meaning of their bodies

Many parents, and I was one of them, dread having to have “the talk” as their child approaches puberty. We aren’t quite sure what to say about teen fertility awareness, and we fear what questions we may get. Looking back, I see that practicing fertility awareness helped my husband and me grow comfortable talking about…

Eucharistic Abstinence and NFP

Guest post by Theology of the Body enthusiast Katrina J. Zeno, MTS This also appears in the May/June 2020 issue of Family Foundations. A funny thing happened on the way to Easter this year – Lent became even more penitential. Without our consent, public Catholic masses were suspended in many dioceses in the U.S. and…

Halloween traditions that honor God

There’s no reason to surrender a day of spiritual preparation to coincidental timing of peripheral pagan celebrations. Christ came to redeem! Even if secular Halloween has devolved towards the demonic, we Christians can and should purify our own traditions and use them as tools to evangelize and grow in holiness.

12 parenting tips from Fr. Floeder

Above all, nemo dat quod non habet — you cannot give what you do not have. For you to form your family in love, you must be striving to know love in Christ and live love in your marriage and family. Stay rooted in prayer, the sacraments and concrete daily acts of love for your spouse and you will be able to form your children well.

Tolkien imparts timeless lessons on fellowship, loyalty, family

Tolkien, the Fox Searchlight biopic set for release this Friday, May 10, follows young John Ronald Reuel Tolkien through events early in his life — from school years to World War I — that would ultimately lay the foundation for his world-changing fiction. The narrative is delivered as a series of flashbacks as soldier Tolkien…

Man to man: Advice from NFP grooms

From the Family Foundations archives **** She said yes! Great! Now what? There’s finding a church, ordering food, booking the DJ and photographer. It’s enough to make a guy go nuts! The recently engaged and married fellows interviewed by Family Foundations offered a few pointers for men preparing to take the big step. From learning how to argue…

14 traditions to make Holy Week real for your kids

We’re just shy of halfway through Lent, but let’s be real: Catholic kids everywhere are mentally on Easter break. There are lots of great Easter activities that celebrate the beauty of spring and the secular side of the season, but what about preparing the hearts and minds of our little ones for the immeasurable spiritual…

What St. Joseph teaches us about mercy

Joseph had it rough. Imagine being an all-around good guy, intentional about the reputations of both yourself and your family (after all, the Messiah is destined to come from your tribe!). You manage an engagement to the loveliest girl in town — one with an even more flawless record than your own — and you…

Tips for healthy fasting

NFPers are no strangers to the idea of abstinence, fasting and self-control. Lent is a beautiful liturgical season in which the entire Church joins together in self-denial in a focused way, and we seasoned veterans can be something of an example for those to whom such practices are less familiar. And just as NFP worth…

My vocation isn’t marriage

Marriage was never an option in my discernment. I could tell from my gifts, interests, strengths and weaknesses that my calling would be something particularly unconventional. Marriage? Dull. Kids? Adorable, but spiritual motherhood fosters a much bigger family and is far more frequently neglected. The second stop for my discernment train was clearly religious life.…