Facing Infertility: A Catholic Approach


Book Description

More than 1 in 10 couples experience infertility, finding themselves in a “desert”—lost and abandoned, hungering and thirsting, praying and waiting—for a child. Discover the direction, nourishment, and faith provided within this spiritual resource for infertile Catholic couples, their families, and friends. Personal reflections from Catholic women struggling with infertility evoke a heartfelt realism, while passages from Scripture and prayers from the Book of Psalms provide the comfort and hope to trust in God, the “Divine Physician.”




Outside the Womb


Book Description

The use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) is on the rise in our culture as an alternative for couples facing infertility issues and single women desiring to have children. Is it right – morally, ethically, biblically – to engage this new technology? Are there some aspects of ART that are more acceptable than others? Outside the Womb: The Ethics of Reproductive Technologies addresses the whole issue of “making life”, providing valuable information, both theologically and scientifically, for Christian couples to reflect upon as they consider the various fertility treatments.




Under the Laurel Tree


Book Description

Infertility ranks among the hardest griefs a couple can face. Yet this painful issue is all too often neglected in both Church and society. Under the Laurel Tree traces one God-fearing couple's journey through the emotional turmoil of childlessness. By following the story of Saints Joachim and Anna, this book helps individuals and couples navigate the loss inherent in infertility amid the pain of shame, separation, anger, bargaining, and blamelessness. In walking alongside Joachim and Anna, we encounter not only a life-giving template for grief, but also the path back to ourselves, our partner, and our God-given vocation of eucharistic thanksgiving.




Forever


Book Description

Get your marriage off to a great start--or renew the marriage you've shared for years--with this six-week devotional for couples, which takes inspiration from Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Experts Jackie François Angel and Bobby Angel will teach you how to pray together as a couple, opening you up to the wonders that God bestows on your marriage.




God's Mercy Awaits You


Book Description

Many women who experience post-abortion trauma and guilt feel doomed to suffer in silence. In God’s Mercy Awaits You, experienced pro-life counselor Sr. Patricia Marie Barnette accompanies women on a journey out of the darkness of shame and regret and into the light of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Sr. Barnette is as empathetic as she is knowledgeable, and she approaches this difficult topic with compassion and sensitivity.The book is also highly practical, filled with prayers, advice, and web and print resources that consider the issue from every perspective. If you or someone you know is living in pain caused by an abortion, God’s Mercy Awaits You is an invaluable resource to begin the process of healing.




Suffering


Book Description

Just as Job was tried, all of us are tested by suffering. It comes to us in many different forms: grief about the past, pain in the present, and sadness about what might have been. The personal dimension of suffering means that it marks our experience and, in some ways, makes us who we are. Coping with suffering as Christians includes certain spiritual practices that lead us to surrender our lives more fully to the Lord. By offering our suffering as a spiritual sacrifice, joined intentionally to the suffering of Christ through prayer, we engage with the most profound Christian teaching about suffering: that it is redemptive. Suffering can transform us to be like God.




Home for Good


Book Description

Tying in to a nationwide joint campaign by the Evangelical Alliance and Care for the Family, Krish Kandiah wants us all to take seriously Jesus's call to 'suffer the little children' by engaging with the needs of the many thousands of children up and down the country who are in care and whom the church could and should be helping. Krish and his wife Miriam have adopted and fostered children themselves and their experience - and that of the many others in this book - is very different from the popular myth which suggests social services seek to prevent Christians from getting involved. Krish argues that whatever the state's stance may be, it is a part of our calling as God's church to get involved where it's hardest, and to help these children out of the tough realities they find themselves in. Filled with stories from people who have adopted or were adopted themselves, alongside practical advice on how it all works and the challenges that will come, this book makes a compelling case that the church can and must make a difference in these children's lives, and asks us all to consider our response.




The NaPro Technology Revolution


Book Description

Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers draws on decades of medical experience to provide educational and revolutionary insights into the world of women's health. The NaPro Technology Revolution provides real solutions to real problems such as infertility, repetitive miscarriage, menstrual cramps, postpartum depression, PMS, prematurity prevention, ovarian cysts, hormonal abnormalities, irregular/abnormal bleeding, chronic discharges, polycystic ovarian disease, and family planning. Hilgers sheds light on abnormal ovarian function, an issue that millions of women unknowingly suffer from. His methods have proven to assist infertile couples nearly three times more successfully than those who use In Vitro Fertilization, without the dangers of early abortions, frozen embryos, or high rates of multiple pregnancy. The NaProTechnology Prematurity Prevention Program cuts the rate from the national 12.7% to 7%. The NaPro Technology Revolution discusses what every woman has a right to know about her body, her health, and her future!




The Infertility Companion for Catholics


Book Description

One in every six United States couples experiences infertility but Catholic couples face additional confusion, worry, and frustration as they explore the medical options available to them. Filling a major void in Catholic resources, The Infertility Companion for Catholics is the first book to address not only the medical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of infertility, but also the particular needs of Catholic couples who desire to understand and follow Church teaching on the use of assisted reproductive technology. Authors Angelique Ruhi-López and Carmen Santamaría offer the support and wisdom gained in their own struggles with infertility. They describe the options that Catholic couples can pursue in seeking to conceive, many of which are not ordinarily presented by the medical community. In an encouraging and non-judgmental tone, they address both husbands and wives and help them recognize the emotional impact of infertility on their relationship. The Infertility Companion for Catholics presents a variety of spiritual resources including prayers, devotions, and the wisdom of the saints and provides suggestions for further reading of reference materials, Catholic documents, and Catholic blogs about infertility.




Sex, Love, and Families


Book Description

2021 Association of Catholic Publishers first place award in theology 2021 Catholic Media Association Award first place award in marriage and family living Six years into the papacy of Pope Francis, Catholics are still figuring out how to respond to his image of the church as a field hospital —a church that goes into the streets rather than remaining locked up behind closed doors. Marriage and family are primary sites of the field hospital, called to meet people's need for healing and accompaniment with compassion and love. The authors of this collection —all lay, a mix of single and married, traditional and progressive Catholics —take up this work. They offer practical wisdom from and critical engagement with the Catholic tradition but avoid rehashing decades-old theological debates. Instead, their essays engage with and respond to realities shaping contemporary family life, like religious pluralism, technology, migration, racism, sex and gender, incarceration, consumerism, and the call to holiness. The result is a collection that envisions ways that families can be places of healing and love in and for the world. List of contributors: Jennifer BesteMegan K. McCabeElizabeth AntusKathryn Lilla CoxKent LasnoskiHoon ChoiCristina L. H. TrainaCraig A. Ford Jr.Bridget Burke RavizzaJulie Donovan MasseyEmily Reimer-BarryRichard GaillardetzTimothy O'MalleySandra Sullivan-DunbarKathryn Getek-SolisKari-Shane Davis ZimmermanJana Marguerite BennettVictor CarmonaGemma Tulud CruzDaniel OlsenThomas BeaudoinChristine Firer HinzeDavid CloutierMarcus MescherSue MuldoonTimothy MuldoonMary M. Doyle-RocheJason KingJulie Rubio