Tag Archives: love

LifeTeen.com Blog

Is Pornography Cheating?

By | April 16, 2013

2013-04_LT-PornCheating

But the battle isn’t over.

I have to recognize my humanness and be vigilant. There’s a spiritual battlefield happening around me (and a selfishness in my own heart still) with an enemy wanting to tear me down, especially in this time of engagement and preparation for marriage. I’m thankful that the Lord rooted this out of me; I would never want to bring this evil into my marriage. But I also understand the struggle and the humility I’ve learned in passing through what will likely be the major battle of our generation, and the battle our sons and daughters will all have to face.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Where Have You Been?

By | March 13, 2013

2013-03_LT-Rihanna

We, like the Samaritan woman, continually ask God, “Where have you been?” or “Where were you?” when relationships or life don’t go the way we planned.

The thing is God never asks us, “Where have you been” because He knows where we’ve been. He knows the websites, the parties, the rooms we have entered, and the bottles we have opened to satisfy our thirst. He knows the relationships we have been in and the lines we have crossed emotionally, physically, and sexually. And yet, He sits at the wall of the well waiting for us to discover Him and accept His mercy and love.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

You’re Kind of a Big Deal

By | March 11, 2013

2013-03_LT-BigDeal

Think about the coolest thing you’ve ever made and how excited you were to show it to your friends and family. You didn’t find your best creation to be boring, stupid, and ugly. If you had designed the iphone 5, you’d be pretty stoked to show the whole world your handiwork.

Now imagine you had the power to create a person who could think and feel . . . and possibly love you back. I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty obsessed with my person.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Stop Worrying, Your Vocation is to Love

By | March 9, 2013

2013-03_LT-VocationLove

The idea of discerning our vocation can cause a lot of anxiety. Wondering if we are called to be married, enter religious life, who we should date, if we should visit convents or try out seminary can be overshadowed by fear – fear that we’ll do the wrong thing or that God will plant us somewhere that will make us miserable.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Lifelong Love

By | February 14, 2013

2013-02_LT-LifeLongLove

This is Don and Norma Jean. They’ve been married for 60 years. I only talked with them for a few minutes but that was all it took for me to see how much they were in still in love. Couples like Don and Norma Jean prove to us that we aren’t all doomed to broken hearts and broken marriages. True love exists; marriage is possible. Every magazine will tell you about “10 Tips to Find a Hot Date,” “How to Make Your Crush Love You,” “7 Ways to Keep Him Interested,” and “The Failed Marriages Read more [...]

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Pope Benedict XVI’s 2013 Lenten Message

By | February 8, 2013

2013-02_LT-PopeLentMessage

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The celebration of Lent, in the context of the Year of Faith, offers us a valuable opportunity to meditate on the relationship between faith and charity: between believing in God – the God of Jesus Christ – and love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and which guides us on the path of devotion to God and others.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Everything I Know About Love I Learned From Taylor Swift

By | October 25, 2012

2012-10_LT-RedTaylor

If you haven’t listened to T-Swift’s new album Red, go clear your schedule and come back to this blog later. My words will be empty and boring if you aren’t hearing the refrain of “All too well” or “Treacherous” on repeat in your head.

If you have been listening to her album, courtesy of iTunes, Target, a Papa John’s Pizza, or a YouTube playlist, then we are definitely friends. (If you participated in any sort of countdown to Red, you’re instantly elevated to best friend status.)

Miss Swift’s album is about more love and heartbreak than I’ve ever experienced. Like, ever.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Accepting the Challenge from Blessed JP2: Be Not Afraid

By | October 22, 2012

JP2_Wallpaper_iPhone_(640x960)

I believe that Pope John Paul II was one of the greatest Popes to have ever served the Church. History has shown him to be a man who can be all things to all people. He was an athlete, an actor, a writer, a priest, a bishop, an activist and most of all a follower of Christ . . . In terms of leadership and bravery, William Wallace has nothing on this guy. During the years of Pope John Paul II’s service to the Church, he encountered many things that would make the average person run and hide.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

God Made Sex (and He Made it Sacred)

By | September 11, 2012

2012-09_LT-GodMadeSex

God is one creative Creator. He gave us the cosmos, the sun, the moon, and the stars. He gave us the mountains and the seas, volcanoes and icebergs, tropical rainforests and sand-covered beaches. He gave us the humpback whale, the platypus, the giraffe and the dragonfly. God also gave us humanity. God created us male and female – beautifully distinct and wonderfully made in His divine image. God created marriage and God created sex.

Did you catch that last line?

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Why Do Catholics Dress Up for Mass?

By | August 23, 2012

WDC_MassDressUp

Clothes say something about what we think, what we value. They also influence how we behave and feel. Sunday is special, and God’s House is special. Some things are really important, and our clothing and demeanor ought to reflect this truth.

The exterior reflects the interior, and God definitely deserves the best we have inside and out!

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Bold Manhood

By | August 13, 2012

2012-07_LT-BoldMan

As a result, “loving your neighbor” has become more of a general accepting of someone for everything they choose to be and do. This idea is summed up as the great “virtue” of tolerance. On the surface, it seems like a great and honorable ideal. Everyone can do what they want without being judged and nobody hurts anyone else’s feelings.

Yet we find something radically different in the biblical vision of love. In the gospel of John, Jesus says “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

“Happily Ever After”: Does it Exist?

By | July 12, 2012

2012-07_LT-Happily

Today the song “Payphone” by Maroon 5 came on the radio as I was driving. Of course since then I’ve had it stuck in my head . . . particularly the line, “If ‘happy ever after’ did exist, I would still be holding you like this.”

This line annoys me. If I could say two things to Adam Levine (the lead singer) I would tell him . . .

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Faithfulness: Why I Don’t Eat Cookies in Lent

By | March 8, 2012

2012-03_LT-LentFaithfulness

I have refused sweets many times already this Lent. I don’t refuse them because I’m scared of breaking a promise or afraid God will triple the calories for disobeying my Lenten commitment. I refuse the sweets because it’s one of the things I decided to do for Lent. I’d rather take the seemingly sad situation as a chance to run to Jesus and unite my (puny) sufferings with His. I prefer to be moved and driven by love, not fear. Remember that we are the beloved. Notice that we word beloved breaks up into be-loved.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Saint Quotes: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati on Purity

By | March 3, 2012

2012-03_LT-PierGiorgio

“With all the strength of my soul I urge you young people to approach the Communion table as often as you can. Feed on this bread of angels whence you will draw all the energy you need to fight inner battles. Because true happiness, dear friends, does not consist in the pleasures of the world or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we have only if we are pure in heart and mind.” – Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Read more [...]

More »

Video

10 Ways to Get the Right Guy to Like You [Video]

By | February 27, 2012

2012-02_LT-RightGuyLikesMe

Hey girls, have you ever wondered if there’s a secret to getting a guy to like you? Well . . . there’s not just one, there’s 10!

They’re an easy 10, but there is a catch. This list isn’t just to get any guy to like you; it’s a list to get the right guy to like you. Why? Because you are awesome and beautiful and that’s what you deserve. You don’t deserve just anyone who’s going to take you for granted and mistreat you. You deserve the best.

I hope and pray you believe that too.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

7 Catholic Dating Tips

By | February 22, 2012

2012-02_LT-DatingTips

Whether single or in a relationship, dating can be a wonderful, exciting, intimidating, and sometimes bizarre event. The stress of just figuring out what to wear can send you over the edge. Then there are all the other details. Who is paying? Where do we go? Do we show affection? How do I flirt? Or more importantly, how do we just survive those crippling embarrassing moments. Maybe you are like me and awkward moments never seem to end. If so, here are some fun tips to help your dates go a Read more [...]

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Saint Quotes: St. Augustine on Lust

By | February 18, 2012

2012-02_LT-AugustineLust

“By Lust I mean that affection of the mind that aims at the enjoyment of one’s self and one’s neighbor without reference to God. Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity. There is no remedy so powerful against the heat of concupiscence as the remembrance of our Savior’s Passion. In all my difficulties I never found anything so efficacious as the wounds of Christ: In them I sleep secure; from them I derive new life.” – Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Read more [...]

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Relationship: The Answer to Jesus vs. Religion

By | February 15, 2012

2012-02_LT-Relationships

I have to admit I’m a bit late on this one. I realize that the whole “Jesus vs. Religion” showdown is sooooo last month, but I think it’s worth taking another look at.

Who hasn’t thought at one point or another about how great it would be to just have Jesus without all the rules and lists of things we’re supposed to do? Why do we need all the rules? Why can’t we just have Jesus without all the obligations? Sure, Jesus spoke often about the importance of following His commands (Luke 8:21) but why do we even need religion then? Why do we need labels and definitions? Why can’t we just be close to Him and not worry about all the details?

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Dating Disasters: Confessions of a Catholic Single

By | February 14, 2012

2012-02_LT-DatingDisasters

I always have the worst dates.

Seriously, the movie How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days has nothing on me. My dating disasters have been frequent and broad in their range of humiliation: I have been taken to the hospital, spilled my drink over my date’s new couch, called the guy by the wrong name, got lost and stuck in a ditch, and laughed so hard I choked on my meal nearly causing the waiter to perform the Heimlich.

And you wonder why I am still single?

But wait there’s more. Here are my top two worst date experiences.

More »

LifeTeen.com Blog

Not Cool, Nicki Minaj

By | February 13, 2012

2012-02_LT-NickiMinaj

Dear Nicki Minaj,

I want to begin by letting you know that I don’t know much about you. I don’t listen to your music. I don’t know your background, and I even had to look up how to spell your name. I think you performed at the Super Bowl this year, but last night, watching the Grammy’s, was probably my first real introduction to you. And if it’s important to make a good first impression, with me, you failed.

To say that I was offended by your performance is an understatement, and I really don’t want to go back and re-live it again, so I’m not going to get into any specifics. What I do want you to know is something all of us Catholics believe.

More »