Contrary to conventional wisdom, men really DO value romance in relationships! So much so, in fact, that 33% of men are bothered “a lot” by the fact that their significant other isn’t MORE romantic. That, combined with the fact that men are MUCH MORE LIKELY to fall in love at first sight than women (48% vs. 28%) reveals the surprising truth that men crave love (as opposed to just sex) much more than most people think. What other relationship myths... Read more
What are your chances your children will own their faith? Answer these 5 questions in my inaugural post in the National Catholic Register! For the Catholic parent, there is no more important task than communicating our faith to our children. That doesn’t just mean teaching our kids Catholic prayers and rituals. It means teaching them how to have a meaningful and personal relationship with God. How to think and act morally. How to love rightly and intimately. How to celebrate... Read more
<Sigh> The author of this piece (arguing against universal NFP training in marriage prep) is responding to a piece I wrote last year for NFP Awareness Week. And, although I know he is completely well-meaning, he completely missed the point.To say that couples should NOT be required to learn NFP–as the author of this article does– is, in my mind, the equivalent of saying, “As Catholics, we think it is good and noble for people to be completely ignorant... Read more
If the idea of “family spirituality” sounds indescribably boring, oddly mysterious, or like a total luxury (and not in a good way) then you’re not alone. A recent study by Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM) and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) found that 83% of Catholic families do not have any kind of shared spiritual life at home. Here’s why you should care. What is “Spirituality” Anyway? Psychologists who study religion and spirituality assert that healthy... Read more
Check out the first in our brand new series of videos that Lisa and I did with CatholicMatch.com. Here is the introduction to the first video on the question of male and female friendships by CatholicMatch.com editor, Robyn Lee. This past weekend I was chatting with one of my girlfriends about how excited I was to see one of my guy friends from high school. Her response surprised me, “I don’t believe women and men can be friends.” I was... Read more
New research puts another nail in the coffin of the idea that pornography is an addiction. First the study, then I’ll explain why this matters for treating problem sexual behaviors and why it’s GOOD news for sufferers. According to ScienceDirect.com… A new study published in Biological Psychology provides provocative evidence in favor of dropping the addiction label because what’s going on inside the brains of so-called porn “addicts” is nothing like what you would expect from someone who has an addiction. In this... Read more
According to KrebsOnSecurity “Large caches of data stolen from [a major] online cheating site [ed. note. I have redacted the name of the site so as to not participate in the promotion of their “work”] have been posted online by an individual or group that claims to have completely compromised the company’s user databases, financial records and other proprietary information. The still-unfolding leak could be quite damaging to some 37 million users of the hookup service, whose slogan is ‘Life is... Read more
Researchers consider it a well-establish fact that the quality of our relationships, in general, and our romantic relationships, in particular, wield huge influence over our physical health and well-being. We know, for example, that people who are unhappy in their marriages are at significantly greater risk for disease than couples who are happy together. What was less clear is the mechanism by which relationships impact our health. But a new study finds that the degree to which you feel understood... Read more
I’m excited to announce that that Pastoral Solutions Institute will be working with CatholicMatch.com as part of our shared mission to help Catholics celebrate the life and relationships that God wants them to have. My wife, Lisa, and I will be hosting a soon-to-be-released video series for the CatholicMatch Institute on different aspects of what it takes to live life to the fullest and cultivate healthy, joyful, passionate, faith-filled marriages. We’ll providing other content as well over the... Read more
This post is part of a feature from Patheos called Head to Head where our best minds debate the big questions of the day. This week, I’m debating the Evangelical Channel’s John Mark N. Reynolds. The question: is a deity necessary for morality? This week’s question was inspired by Patheos Atheist writer Peter Mosley’s story on Theism’s Morality Glitch. This is part three in my Patheos Head-to-Head debate with Philosopher John Mark Reynolds of Eidos Blog. I am responding to... Read more
Faith on the Couch
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