Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a beautiful and effective way for married couples to remain open to life while also following Church teaching against contraception. For many couples, NFP can be a way for them to grow closer to each other and as a couple grow closer...
Melissa Flen's Author Page
Are The Demands Of The Church Too Much For Modern Catholics?
In this modern day and age, the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church can seem archaic and over the top. They certainly seem this way to people outside of the Church but more and more, this pervasive belief is growing within the Church as well. It...
NFP And The Deconstruction Of Love
One of the best things about the Catholic Church (which of course, there are many, many things) is the communion of saints. The wisdom and holiness of the men and women who have gone before us can guide us toward the light that is Christ. There are few areas of our...
3 Pitfalls To Avoid While Practicing Natural Family Planning
Natural family planning has the potential to bring out either our best or our worst traits as people and as spouses. There’s nothing quite like sacrificing our own physical desires (think along the lines of dieting or...
Litany Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother Of Life
The demands on the lives of couples who practice natural family planning can seem very overwhelming at times. Every Catholic couple who is serious enough about their love for our Lord to follow the Church’s teaching on contraception understands this...
The Sweet And Sour Of NFP (Natural Family Planning)
It doesn’t take long when first discovering the world of natural family planning to realize that most couples have a love/hate relationship with NFP. The reasons to love it are obvious and the reasons to hate it are obvious. It is a strange mix of sweet...
What Does Being Open To Life Really Mean?
Open to life. We’ve all heard it, and for the most part, think we know what it means. For those who are outside the Church, or perhaps those Catholics who have done little more than get their feet wet in this beautiful thing we call Catholicism, the...
4 Reasons Not To Give Up On NFP When It Gets Hard
Let’s face it. As wonderful as the idea of Natural Family Planning (NFP) can sound, the reality for many couples can be far from that beautiful ideal. A common thread amongst frustrated couples trudging their way through the trenches of NFP is that the...
The 7 Desires of Our Hearts That The 7 Sacraments Respond To
The search to fulfill our many desires is what leads people through their lives in one direction or another. We live in a time where the dominant belief is that life is short and we should fulfill those desires by any means necessary. That mentality leads people...
This Is The Moment In The Mass That Softened A Grieving Mom’s Heart
"Shall we now begin the Mass." The words that I had loved hearing over the last several years now felt like an invitation to the tears that were always a struggle to keep locked in. As our priest listed the intentions of the Mass, I listened intently, keeping my...
A stay at home wife and mother from New Mexico, Melissa is determined to worship God through the dark times in her life as easily as she does during the good times. Her greatest pleasures in life are the Holy Eucharist, her husband, her children, and endless amounts of piping hot coffee.