The Catholic Wisdom Behind Our Coaching

The Catholic Wisdom — Why the Catechism Is Our Coaching Playbook What Is the Catechism? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition, 1997) is the Church’s official summary of what Catholics believe, celebrate, live, and pray — 2,865 numbered paragraphs covering the full range of Christian doctrine. It’s not a rule book. It’s a map of what it means to be human, and what it means to love. Why It Matters for Dating and Marriage Most men I talk to never cracked the Catechism open. They got bits of Catholic teaching in school or CCD, maybe some wedding prep, and that was it. That’s a problem — because the Church has been thinking about human love for two thousand years, and most of that thinking never made it into your CCD class. When a guy is stuck in a pattern of dead-end relationships or can’t figure out why nothing seems to work, the Catechism usually has a direct answer. Not because it moralizes at you. Because it’s accurate about what we are and how we got wounded. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — What Scripture Actually Says About Love A lot of people come to me with one verse lodged in their head — usually Ephesians 5:25 or the reading from 1 Corinthians they heard at someone’s wedding. That’s not nothing. But if Scripture is your only reference point for love, you’re working from a fragment. The full picture is much richer, and a little more demanding. What Is the Catholic Public Domain Version? The Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV) is a complete translation of all 73 books of the Catholic Bible — 46 Old Testament, 27 New Testament — translated by Ronald L. Conte Jr. between 2009 and 2010. It includes the deuterocanonical books (Tobit, Sirach, Wisdom, Maccabees, and others) that Protestant editions omit, covering 1,181 chapters and 30,985 verses. Because it’s public domain, it’s freely available to anyone — which is why we use it throughout our coaching tools and content. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — St. Thomas Aquinas on Why Love Is a Choice What Is the Summa Theologica? The Summa Theologica is St. Thomas Aquinas’s systematic treatment of Christian theology, written between 1265 and 1274. Structured as a series of questions, objections, and responses, it covers everything from the nature of God to the virtues, natural law, marriage, and human happiness. The English Dominican Province translation (1947) is the standard reference, and our RAG system holds over 1,100 chunks of it. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — What Canon Law Says About Getting Married What Is the Code of Canon Law? The Code of Canon Law (1983) is the Church’s legal framework for her life and governance — 1,752 canons across seven books. Pope John Paul II promulgated it as the renewal of Church discipline after Vatican II. Canons 1055–1165 govern marriage specifically, covering everything from consent and impediments to the canonical form required for a valid wedding. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — How the Mass Prepares You for Marriage What Is the GIRM? The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) is the Church’s official guide for how Mass is celebrated — 399 paragraphs covering the theology, structure, roles, and rubrics of the Eucharistic liturgy. The current English edition dates to 2011. It’s primarily a liturgical document, but its description of the Mass as a complete act of self-offering has real consequences for how Catholics understand vocation. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — JP2’s Blueprint for the Christian Family What Is Familiaris Consortio? Familiaris Consortio (“On the Family”) is an Apostolic Exhortation written by Pope John Paul II and promulgated on November 22, 1981. Its 86 paragraphs emerged from the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the family, shaped by bishops from around the world. It addresses conjugal love, responsible parenthood, the education of children, and the family’s role in both the Church and society. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — Why the Gospel of Life Changes How You Date What Is Evangelium Vitae? Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”) is an encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, promulgated on March 25, 1995. Its 105 paragraphs address the value and inviolability of human life — including the Church’s teaching on abortion, euthanasia, and what JP2 called the “culture of death.” Paragraph 99 is the source of his famous call for a “new feminism” and the concept of the feminine genius. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — The Moral Truth Nobody Wants to Hear What Is Veritatis Splendor? Veritatis Splendor (“The Splendor of Truth”) is a 1993 encyclical by Pope John Paul II, issued August 6th — the Feast of the Transfiguration. In 111 paragraphs, JP2 takes on the core questions of Catholic moral teaching: the relationship between human freedom and moral law, the role of conscience, and why faith and ethics can’t be separated. He was responding to a cultural moment when moral relativism had become the default setting. That moment hasn’t passed. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — What “God Is Love” Actually Means for Your Relationships What Is Deus Caritas Est? Pope Benedict XVI released his first encyclical on Christmas Day 2005, and the opening line — “God is love” — is three words most of us have heard so many times they’ve stopped landing. Deus Caritas Est spends 42 paragraphs making sure they land again. Benedict explores two kinds of love: eros (the desire that draws us toward another) and agape (the self-giving love that pours itself out). His argument is that Christian love is not one or the other. It’s both, purified and held together. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — Pope Francis on the Joy (and Mess) of Love What Is Amoris Laetitia? Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”) is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016, the Feast of St. Joseph. It emerged from two Synods on the Family held in 2014 and 2015, and it covers marriage preparation, ongoing accompaniment of couples, pastoral care for irregular situations, and the spirituality of family life. At 325 paragraphs, it is the longest document the Church has produced on love, marriage, and family. ...