Category: Dating & Singles

couple, romance, marriage, dating, love
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Addicted to Romance

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Are romance novels an innocent pastime or something more dangerous? While I was working on Amazing Grace for Married Couples, a story we ended up not using involved a woman who became addicted to romance novels. It seems she is not alone. I’ve gone to garage sales and saw tables full of romance novels for […]

Good Marriage Prep Matters
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Good Marriage Prep Matters

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In my work preparing engaged couples for marriage, I find myself pondering what might have been different for us, if my husband and I would have been required to take the same prep that is currently offered in the Diocese of Phoenix. While we were married in Phoenix over thirty-eight years ago, the marriage prep […]

Singles Need Prayers
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Singles Need Prayers

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Single Catholics: the Vocations Solution It is widely known, in both Catholic and non-Catholic circles, that the Catholic Church is experiencing a shortage of priestly and religious vocations at this time. We often hear prayers at Mass for an increase in these vocations. There are those who are called by God to this vocation who […]

Forgotten Children: Singles in the Church
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Forgotten Children: Singles in the Church

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A question that occasionally comes up when the topic of single Catholics is raised has to do with priorities. Some would say that the Church is too busy addressing the many moral evils in today’s society to be concerned with single people. This line of thinking, however, prevents the Church from seizing a great opportunity. Assisting […]

How To Marry an Idiot
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How To Marry an Idiot

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It seems many people have marrying an idiot as their goal. The amount of couples getting divorced proves to me that many have already become experts. Sadly, there are still those hold-outs who insist on taking their vow of “till death do us part” seriously even when they get bored with one another or a […]

Pamela Anderson: The New Mary Magdalene?
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Pamela Anderson: The New Mary Magdalene?

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A preface to this article: I remember as a teenager how both the Internet and my hormones were exploding. I spent many a nights using dial up modems lusting after the latest digital pin-up. Front and center in my quest was the blond bombshell named Pamela Anderson. During the 90s, she was the crown jewel of all […]

Deciphering Love
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Deciphering Love

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“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa   “At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.” – Plato   “For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” – Judy Garland The concept […]

dating, marriage, love
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In Defense Of “Soul Mates”

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It has been said that: Real love is not all feelings. Real love takes work. Real love requires choosing your beloved on a daily basis.  These are all statements that I believe to be true. But, can I let you in on a little secret? I believe in soul mates. And [thankfully], I believe that I […]

Book Review: <i>The Catholic Guide to Dating After Divorce</i>
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Book Review: The Catholic Guide to Dating After Divorce

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Lisa Duffy, an author and speaker for the CatholicMatch institute, overcame a painful divorce and annulment, remarried in the Church, and has spent the past twenty years ministering to those who have been wounded by divorce. In The Catholic Guide to Dating after Divorce (Ave Maria Press, 2015), Duffy provides authentic Church teaching on divorce, […]

Two Takes on Chastity
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Two Takes on Chastity

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Ave Maria Press recently published two books on chastity. While the books come to the same conclusions, the authors do so from very different viewpoints. The first, Chastity is for Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin, by Arleen Spenceley, is by a twenty-nine year old woman who is still looking for Mr. Right. She […]

Getting to Yes: Courtship, Not Just Dating
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Getting to Yes: Courtship, Not Just Dating

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When my family migrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1986, I didn’t want to go. I wanted to finish college at home and settle down with whomever God picked out for me to marry, after a courtship of at least five years. But God laughed at my plans. I met my future […]

Five Things to Do This Valentine’s Day Regardless of Your Status
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Five Things to Do This Valentine’s Day Regardless of Your Status

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Not everyone loves Valentine’s Day. Some do because they are in relationships or it gives them an excuse to eat chocolate. Others hate it because they will probably stay home alone watching Netflix awhile their friends with significant others go out. Instead of wallowing in that funk, whether single or in a relationship, spread the […]

The Inhuman Relationship of Mary and Joseph
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The Inhuman Relationship of Mary and Joseph

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Every year at Christmas time I think of the many people who experience a more acute loneliness that the season has a way of drawing out of those who are literally alone or feel alone, even among their friends and family. It’s an inescapable desire to have that one special person with whom you can […]

Chastity and Love: Please Don't Let Them Be Misunderstood
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Chastity and Love: Please Don’t Let Them Be Misunderstood

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Chastity and love are two of the most misunderstood concepts in our culture today. In her new book Chastity Is For Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin, Arleen Spenceley does a masterful job clearing up the confusion. About chastity and how it differs from abstinence, she says: Chastity neither pretends sexuality doesn’t exist nor […]

Dear Anthony: Natural Family Planning
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Dear Anthony: Natural Family Planning

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Dear Anthony, I’m getting married soon and I wanted to find out exactly how NFP works, since that’s what the Church recommends.  I have saved myself for my husband and remained pure.  I want to enjoy sex without the worries of getting pregnant right away.  I want my husband to enjoy sex too, so NFP […]

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The High Price of Not Putting Out

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Dear Anthony, I’ve had it with men!  Once again, I have been rejected by a guy because I would not have sex with him, and made it clear (after his many attempts) that I’m not that kind of girl and it’s not going to happen until I’m married.  It never fails.  Things are going great […]

You’re Not My Type!
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You’re Not My Type!

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Nowadays, there is much talk of “types” in dating.  “He’s a nice guy, but he’s not my type.” “I don’t know a thing about her, but she is definitely my type”.  Friends and family chime in as well because apparently they are in tune with your “type.” But what is a “type”? I have come […]

The Most Important Thing to Do While You’re Single
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The Most Important Thing to Do While You’re Single

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A stack of save-the-dates and wedding invitations covers a corner of my desk at home. By March 2015, five more of my friends and their significant others will have wed, while I — now nearly 29 — will have not. That I might witness all their vows without a date doesn’t bother me at all as I write […]

The Death of Marriage or the Death of Me?
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The Death of Marriage or the Death of Me?

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I met this young man a few months ago on a flight to give a talk in the Midwest. Ironically, my talk was on marriage and family and the inherent call within each to “man up” or “woman up” respectively. I asked him if he really believed the sad vibe his shirt was proclaiming. “Nah,” […]

Pope Francis: Reject the Culture of Comfort that Rejects Having Babies
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Pope Francis: Reject the Culture of Comfort that Rejects Having Babies

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Following in the noble tradition of his immediate predecessors, Pope Francis encouraged married couples to have children and be open to life. In the homily at his daily Mass on Monday, the Pope said that the “culture of comfort” seeks to convince us: “It’s better not to have children! It’s better! You can go explore the […]

Dear Engaged Couples
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Dear Engaged Couples

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One of the things I hear the most from engaged couples is that they do not pray together. This is crucial for a successful marriage. Remember that marriage is a covenant relationship. It takes three- bride, groom and God. No more than we can imagine a day going by without speaking to one another, just […]

 I’m Dating a Catholic, Now What?
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I’m Dating a Catholic, Now What?

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Dear Anthony, I could use some advice as the non-Catholic party in my relationship.  My boyfriend is a very nice Catholic guy.  He knew I was not Catholic.  We get along just great.  But he’s “really” Catholic, and I’m “really” not.  He isn’t insisting on me being Catholic or anything like that.  But I can’t […]

Saving Sex: Why My Target Audience Isn't Teens
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Saving Sex: Why My Target Audience Isn’t Teens

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The other day on Facebook, a reader learned that for my forthcoming book, called Chastity is for Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin, the target audience is adults, and primarily young ones.* She suggested that in the future, I target teens instead. Another reader, who had asked if the book is fit for teens, suggested […]

 Sex Fogs the Mind
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Sex Fogs the Mind

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Love is in the will. When a man and a woman get married, they pledge their love to each other with the words “I do.” That “I do” is a consent of the will. Our will is that aspect of us that decides and acts. The will differs from feelings and emotions. Your will is […]