Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 | By Lisa Schmidt 
A preliminary report, “What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception,” co-authored by Mary Rice Hasson and Michele M. Hill, offers new data about the views of church-going Catholic women, ages 18-54, on faith, conscience, and contraception. This report is part of a larger research effort called the Women, Faith, and Culture Project.
Report Highlights 13% of church-going Catholic women completely accept the Church’s teachings on family planning. Acceptance of the Church’s teaching on family planning doubles (27%) among young women (aged 18-34) who attend Mass weekly. 37% of women who both attend Mass weekly and have been to confession within the past year completely accept Church teachings on family planning.
Take-Away: The . . . → Read More: What Catholic Women Think
Saturday, July 28th, 2012 | By Renee McGuire 
Editor’s Note: In honor of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, please welcome Renee McGuire to The Practicing Catholic. Renee and husband Kerry are parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines, Iowa, where they teach Natural Family Planning classes. This is Part 1 of Renee’s testimony. Part 2 is 5 Steps to Embracing Natural Family Planning.
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“This is just the rhythm method and everyone knows that doesn’t work.”
“Everyone who follows natural family planning has big families and we can’t afford that.”
“NFP is too hard to learn.”
“Catholics don’t really follow this anyway. It’s so . . . → Read More: 6 Things I’ve Learned Since Dumping the Pill
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 | By Lisa Schmidt Joel and I often say that the “attitude” of this blog embodies what a practicing Catholic ought to be — intentionally, joyfully, and faithfully Catholic all the time. Our blog posts attempt to be the antidote to the perception that piety is boring or that the Church is filled with “sour-faced saints,” as St. Teresa of Avila warns us of becoming.
The recent Health & Human Services’ mandate that orders almost every employer and insurer in the United States to provide sterilization and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, has resulted in so much debate across the country. I have seen quite enough sour-faced Catholics arguing for AND against this issue.
So lately I . . . → Read More: Save Us from Sour-Faced Catholics & Silent Priests
Saturday, February 11th, 2012 | By Lisa Schmidt And we ain’t talkin’ body odor, folks
These Nashville Dominican Sisters have some spunk.
Have you seen their statement about President Obama’s health insurance mandate? Here’s a snippet.
Health Insurance Mandate: Religious Freedom and Conscience Rights in United States Seriously Threatened
The United States, from its very beginnings, has been an example of true human freedom and religious liberty for all. During its history, in fact, our nation has sheltered countless people who came here from countries where their basic freedoms were either in danger or being denied altogether. Sadly, Americans now face a similar threat. At this moment, which is strange and new to us, our own . . . → Read More: Dominican Sisters: Say N-O to B-O. Novena Starts Today.
Thursday, October 27th, 2011 | By Kerry McGuire One Husband’s Perspective on Natural Family Planning
Today we are pleased to welcome friend and fellow parishioner Kerry McGuire to The Practicing Catholic. Kerry’s wife Renee wrote two posts for us this past July (Part I & Part II) in conjunction with Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. As Respect Life Month comes to a close, we are honored to share Kerry’s perspective to the couple’s pro-life conversion story.
To me, respecting life has a lot to do with respecting the way in which life is created.
After my wife Renee and I had been married for a few years we decided, maybe, just maybe we were ready to have kids. The first month we really tried, Renee was . . . → Read More: The Catholic Church’s Best Kept Secret
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 | By Joel Schmidt Check out this Health Tip of the Day I recently received from my fitness center at work (emphasis added).
From: Fitness Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 3:49 AM To: Schmidt, Joel Subject: Tip of the Day (BREAST CANCER HEALTH) – 10/02/11
*** Today’s Tip: BREAST CANCER HEALTH
Breast cancer, affecting one in eight women, is one of the most common cancers in women of all major racial and ethnic groups in the United States. We still don’t know the best way to prevent breast cancer, but there are several things that can help lower a person’s risk of getting the disease: stay physically active; maintain a healthy weight; avoid using . . . → Read More: Birth Control Pill NOT a Risk Factor for Breast Cancer?
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 | By Joel Schmidt The Problem
In our continuing focus on Natural Family Planning Awareness week, I would like to highlight the good work of our friend Kristan Doerfler who writes The Emmaus Road blog, the Catholic voice on HoustonBelief.com (hosted by the Houston Chronicle). As one might imagine, she has a broad, diverse readership that can result in a litany of less-than-charitable comments. Yet, she always responds thoughtfully, rationally, and sometimes humorously, striving to moderate productive discussion.
Further, Kristan doesn’t avoid the more “controversial” issues. This week, her Why the Pill is a Problem post expectedly has generated lots of comments, most of which are rather negative and decidedly anti-NFP. I urge you . . . → Read More: Help a Friend Defend NFP!
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 | By Renee McGuire In honor of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, please once again welcome contributing author Renee McGuire to The Practicing Catholic. Renee and husband Kerry are fellow parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines, IA, where they also teach NFP classes. Part 1 of their story appeared yesterday.
Pick-up from Part 1. . . So much of my research following our miscarriage pointed to the residual hormones in my body not letting our baby thrive. There was incredible guilt over that possibility. I knew that the Church had told us not to use artificial birth control – we didn’t understand why and thought it was just a . . . → Read More: God’s Plan for Parenthood (Part 2)
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