By: Dr. Greg Popcak Beyond the obvious challenges we all face in dealing with the pandemic, many households are experiencing real shock as the activities that used to fill our days suddenly come to a grinding halt. Schools are closed. People are working from home. Life as we know it has been upended. On the relational front, “sheltering in place” is guaranteed to ramp up your family dynamic at least 10 fold. When you’re around each other 24/7, you... Read more
It felt like a gut punch. This past week, the Ohio Bishops’ Conference, along with many other dioceses and bishops’ conferences across the country have suspended the celebration of Mass through Easter. Last weekend was the first weekend I haven’t been to mass since…I can’t remember. It was certainly the first time I have ever missed mass without being ill and unable to leave the house. And I have never once missed any of the Holy Week liturgies—especially Easter Sunday... Read more
What feelings tend to get the best of you? Do certain people or situations provoke emotional reactions in you that are hard to get a handle on? For that matter, does someone you love struggle with their emotions and you’re not sure how to support them? In order to handle these difficult situations for ourselves and others, it’s helpful to understand the answer to the following question: Are our emotional reactions universal, or are they conditioned by culture and environment? ... Read more
We all want the best for our children: for them to succeed, be happy, and be their best selves. But did you know that you can even have an influence on your child’s financial security later in life simply through the way that you parent? A study out of the University of Arizona found that “people with high attachment anxiety and people with high attachment avoidance both reported low life satisfaction and low relationship satisfaction. Those with attachment anxiety also... Read more
“I feel like I sacrifice everything for my kids, running them to all their activities, and yet they don’t seem to like me. It breaks my heart…” “I make a good living, I’m not mean, and still my wife says that I don’t show her I love her – what gives?” “I say a rosary every day but I still don’t feel God. In fact, I feel nothing.” What do these questions have in common? Well, for starters, they all... Read more
“But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?” How often do we try to be someone or something else? How often do we try to fit into someone else’s mould of holiness? Personally, I think this is an especially big temptation for us Catholics. We have so many examples of holiness to look to, both in the saints and in the sanitized version of the saints we see on holy cards, that we can feel inadequate... Read more
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It’s one of those passages that we’ve heard so often we take it for granted. But have you stopped to think what an odd statement it is? What a truly unique message it is in the context of the world’s religions? Every other group on earth rates their success by how well their doing. Their leaders and their gods promise them that, if they do what they’re told, they’ll... Read more
Husbands and wives pledge to love each other through good times and bad, sickness and health, wealth and poverty. On the day of the wedding, these promises feel comforting. But when bad times come through the door, love often flies out the window. How can a couple stick together even when the going gets tough? Decades of research have revealed the following four habits to be essential for staying close through difficult times. They are like four pontoons that keep... Read more
“John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?'” Working in the Church, we at Catholic Counselors are often tasked with helping people overcome scrupulosity. Only very recently, I encountered a woman who refused to go to confession because the emotional turmoil she experienced from exhaustively investigating her own heart for every possible, potential, nitty-gritty occasion of sin was simply to overwhelming to face. Her experience, of course, is... Read more
Dr. Gregory K Popcak Pope Francis made the news New Years Eve for his response to a woman he met in a line of well-wishers. The over-eager woman grabbed the Holy Father’s arm forcefully and wouldn’t let go. The viral video shows Pope Francis wincing—some suggest in pain from his sciatica—and then turning and slapping the woman’s hand twice before breaking free and storming off. The next day, Pope Francis issued a simple, but humble apology. He said, “”Love... Read more
Faith on the Couch
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