Kids’ Needs Don’t Matter in “New Conversation” on Marriage

Last updated on: February 22, 2013 at 10:49 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

(Why can infertile couples marry but homosexual couples can’t? Because infertility doesn’t redefine the natural rights of children.) David Blankenhorn, the founder and director of the Institute for American Values is spearheading a so-called “new” conversation about marriage wherein marriage is allegedly strengthened by redefining it into oblivion. On David’s Family Scholars Blog, Barry Deutsch, political cartoonist and longtime veteran of the war on marriage, admiringly posts the SCOTUS brief filed by attorneys Ted Olsen (former US Solicitor Gen under... Read more

Last updated on: February 22, 2013 at 10:40 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

COMING FRI: The Tyranny of the Shoulds–The Theology of the Body reminds us that there is more to life, but that’s different from beating ourselves (and others) about not being there yet. Today on M2L, we’ll look at how to be gentle with ourselves and others as we try to live peaceably with the fact that we are all works in progress. We’d love your feedback on the question of the day! What imperfections in yourself or others is it... Read more

40 Days to a Better Marriage–Thurs 2/21: Imagine Your Future Together

Last updated on: February 22, 2013 at 7:05 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

40 Days to a Better Marriage Tip– Thurs 2/21: Hopes and Dreams– Today, carve out 20 minutes to talk about how you’d like your marriage to be a year from now. What do you think are your greatest strengths as a couple? How would you like to put those strengths toward becoming an even closer couple over the next year? Take some time to imagine the future you’d like to create together. ——For the next 40 days, Dr. Greg Popcak... Read more

Gay Marriage: Getting the Conversation Right

Last updated on: February 21, 2013 at 3:37 pm By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

The discussion about gay marriage is a terrifically sensitive topic and for the faithful Catholic, it’s an incredible easy conversation to lose. It is simply too easy to be cast in the role of angry, finger-waving, “hater” whose moral sensitivity meter is wound too tight and whose sole mission in life is to be an obstacle to the erstwhile happiness of people who supposedly love each other. It would be easy for us to console ourselves when we lose these conversations... Read more

Thurs on More2Life Radio–The Connected Couple

Last updated on: February 21, 2013 at 9:28 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

COMING THURS on More2Life Radio: THE CONNECTED COUPLE–Couples often disagree on what it really means to be close to one another. Today on M2L, we’ll explore the Catholic vision of intimacy and how couples can achieve the ideal God calls them to. Damon Owens of the Theology of the Body Institute is our guest. Call in from Noon-1pm E (11am-Noon C) at 877-572-7825. Let’s explore what it takes to become the the couples God wants us to be. And don’t... Read more

The Emotionally Distant Marriage–Can Catholics Accept It?

Last updated on: February 21, 2013 at 9:18 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

New research shows that a “happy marriage” depends less on whether a couple is actually close and more on whether the couple is as close as they care to be. I often run into this with the couples I counsel. One spouse wants more emotional/spiritual/psychological intimacy and the other is fine with the way things are. They then challenge me to tell them who is right, while simultaneously asserting that no one has the right to tell them how they... Read more

40 Days to a Better Marriage Tip–Wed 2/20

Last updated on: February 20, 2013 at 2:12 pm By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

40 Days to a Better Marriage Tip– Wed 2/20. The Kinesthetic Lovestyle–Let your mate know you love him or her through all the senses. Today, focus on his/her sense of touch. What kinds of touch (besides sexual touch, we’ll talk about that in another tip) mean the most to your spouse? A neck rub? A foot massage? Cuddling on the couch? A time to kiss and snuggle? Don’t wait to be asked. Initiate! Ask your spouse to come join you and... Read more

How Do We Respond to Moral Failures?

Last updated on: February 20, 2013 at 1:57 pm By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

Over on the Patheos Atheist Channel, Dan Fincke of Forward Thinking asks an interesting question…. How and when (if ever) should we take it upon ourselves to punish someone in our lives for a moral failure? How does this vary depending on various possible relationships we might have to the the morally guilty party? Consider, for example, how or whether we might punish our friends, our partners, our parents, our colleagues, strangers we encounter, etc. What sorts of values and... Read more

When Your Sister is Also Your Wife… (aka Humanae Vitae was Right.)

Last updated on: February 20, 2013 at 10:15 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

You can’t make stuff like this up. From the Dear Prudence column at Slate. Q. Nasty Surprise: My wife and I…were both born to lesbians, she to a couple, and me to a single woman. She had sought out her biological father as soon as she turned 18,…I never was interested in learning about that for myself, but she felt we were cheating our future children by not learning everything we could about my past, too…. I decided to…see if... Read more

Wed on More2Life Radio: The Challenges that Choose You.

Last updated on: February 20, 2013 at 8:49 am By Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

The Challenges that Choose You — In Lent, we like to choose our sacrifices, but everyone experiences little daily sacrifices that choose them. Irritating people, frustrating situations, unexpected setbacks challenge us every day. Today on M2L, we’ll explore how to use those frustrations as moments of grace and growth. Call in from Noon-1pm E (11am-Noon Central) at 877-573-7825 with your questions about how to rise to the challenges that choose you! And don’t forget to respond to our Facebook Question of the... Read more