Sex and Marriage, Part 3: Listener’s Q&A (with Beth Sri)

Please note: This episode contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

In today's episode, my wife Beth joins me to address the unique challenges Catholics face in their marriage and families. We respond to listener questions about building the emotional climate that we talked about in the first part of this mini-series, as well as improving the work-life balance for the good of the family, how to handle interfaith marriages, as well as finding deeper healing when it comes to sins of lust.

Snippet from the Show
Thank God in prayer for the awareness to see the difficulties (as well as the blessings!) in your marriages: then, ask God for the grace for you to take the next step towards transformation and healing through those difficulties.

Get access to Dr. Edward and Beth Sri’s talk on the realities of marriage HERE!

Events with Dr. Sri

• November 18-20, 2022: St. Maximilian Kobe Knights of the Immaculata Men's Retreat - Malvern PA
• November 19, 2022: Diocese of Allentown Men's Conference - Allentown PA
• December 1, 2022: Authentic Leadership Foundation - Dallas TX
• December 7, 2022: St. Anthony Catholic Church - Sterling CO
• January 2-6, 2023: FOCUS SEEK23 - St. Louis MO
• January 12-20, 2023: Holy Land Pilgrimage
• February 2-3, 2023: St. Nicholas Church, Marriage Enrichment Workshop - Memphis TN
• February 10-11, 2023: Diocese of Little Rock Men's Conference - Little Rock AR
• February 17-18, 2023: St. Mary Magdalen Church - Simpsonville SC

Improving the Emotional Climate (2:25)
How do I build the emotional climate in the relationship (as discussed in the first part of this series) when my husband has become so busy with work and has struggled to find good work-life balance, while also trying to respect his need for silence? When I want to engage in heart-to-heart conversation he does not want to talk, he doesn't want to think deeply and has almost always been the one that puts walls up around his heart that are very difficult to get through. My need for the emotional connection has definitely been sacrificed, and there is loneliness within the marriage.

A Father and His Daughters (07:13)
I work from home, and yet the biggest complaint I get from my four daughters is that they don’t see me enough. I’m quite busy with my vocation, as well as maintaining our home and the homes of my elderly mother and mother-in-law. I want to make a point to see them and hug them before school, and we have family dinners most nights. I know that Ted is very busy and travels frequently. How does he maintain that sense of being there, of loving connection to each of your children as well as to Beth?

Natural Family Planning (NFP): Intimacy While Avoiding the "Fertile Window" (12:40)
In those times when you are needing to abstain from sex (married or unmarried), is it still okay to still have some kind of intimacy? Is it okay to make out?

For more advice on physical intimacy, click here to listen to Sex and Marriage, Part 2!

Interfaith Marriages: To Be Married in the Church or Not to Be? (14:52)
The next question comes from a man who's been married 10 years to somebody who is not baptized. He says, “We already have two children together and agreed to raise them Catholic. I'm an active volunteer to the youth in our church and often hurts me to not be able to receive communion during Mass. We discussed getting married by the Church but I feel my wife is only doing it for me to be able to receive the Holy Eucharist and she is not a true believer yet. What do you do in that situation?

Healing Within the Sins of Lust (17:20)
We had a question from someone who, before they converted to the Catholic faith, they were very much into pornography and masturbation. He converted, he heard the Church's teachings and wanted to commit his life to following the the Church's teachings on those two matters. He said he was surprised at how much this has actually strengthened his marriage, his love for his spouse, their union and their friendship together, and even their actual sexual intimacy together has been better since he's freed himself from that.

This person did have a question though, he said that even though he has fallen away from those sins and he has turned away from those sins, he still struggles with lust. He says he struggles with looking at other women lustfully, taking long glances at body parts and such. “I feel badly that I do that. What advice do you have?”