My father and I were never close. He worked in the diplomatic service and was away from home—or so it seemed—more than he was with his family. But even when he was physically present, he was not a person who showed or shared emotions easily. We were estranged when he died and there is not a day that goes by—but especially on Father’s Day!—that I don’t feel regret.I know I am not alone. I know that there are fathers separated from their children for a myriad of...

As Catholic Christians, we know that prayer is vital to keeping our soul in good health, cultivating virtue, and growing in intimacy with God. If prayer is an important element of your life, then you most likely have a desire to share it with your spouse. Sometimes this can be an awkward feat, though, since we all have different personalities and preferences in types of prayer, or especially because we may have never seen a prayer life modeled or talked about by a married couple. Hopefully shari...

My grandmother told me she would have given birth to a dozen children, if she could have. When I asked her why, she responded that twelve seemed like a nice number. In contrast, my mother deliberately chose to have two children, spaced eight years apart, so that she could raise them as “two only children.” My grandmother remarked ruefully, “I never understood your mother.”Nowadays, families of more than two children are as rare as ice cream in the sun. Typical family size...

I have a confession to make. When I was 16 years old, I was already in the convent, working in the department of our publishing house where we typed new manuscripts (on old really large machines...we're talking the 70s before the desktop computer). I typed and proofread Saint John Paul II's General Wednesday audience talks which eventually were published as one book titled The Theology of the Body. Yet, even though I can say I read them (almost 30 years ago now), and a understood them (a...

Growing up, I loved the idea of love, thanks to a steady diet of Disney magic and, later, romantic comedies. Fast-forward to college, and I realized my younger self’s concept of romance was little more than infatuation when compared to what it could really be.St. Pope John Paul II introduced me to another view, and I fell in love with love for real.My college boyfriend and I decided to attend a summer retreat in Allenspark, Colorado, where the pope stayed when he came to Denver for World Y...

A couple years ago I went to a Theology of the Body (TOB) Congress in Philadelphia. One thing stood out for me: so many people I talked to said that learning about TOB had made their life happier. I recall one man who was an ordinary Catholic guy—I’ll call him Joe from New Jersey. He said that his wife had started listening to talks about TOB and was very enthusiastic about it. He wasn’t too interested at first. His wife, however, would play the CDs when the two of them were in the car. After...

The film "Old Fashioned," releasing this Valentine’s Day weekend, seeks to make an art of being old-fashioned.