Sex, Love, and Families: Catholic Perspectives

by Jason King (Editor), Julie Hanlon Rubio (Editor)

Overview

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 Beste
• Megan K. McCabe
• Elizabeth Antus
• Kathryn Lilla Cox
• Kent Lasnoski
• Hoon Choi
• Cristina L. H. Traina
• Craig A. Ford Jr.
• Bridget Burke Ravizza
• Julie Donovan Massey
• Emily Reimer-Barry
• Richard Gaillardetz
• Timothy O'Malley
• Sandra Sullivan-Dunbar
• Kathryn Getek-Solis
• Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman
• Jana Marguerite Bennett
• Victor Carmona
• Gemma Tulud Cruz
• Daniel Olsen
• Thomas Beaudoin
• Christine Firer Hinze
• David Cloutier
• Marcus Mescher
• Sue Muldoon
• Timothy Muldoon
• Mary M. Doyle-Roche
• Jason King
• Julie Rubio

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814687956
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	04/15/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	909,427
File size:	958 KB

About the Author

Jason King is the director of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. He received his PhD from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is the author of Faith with Benefits: Hookup Culture on Catholic Campuses (Oxford University Press, 2017) and essays in American Benedictine Review, Journal of Catholic Higher Education, and Horizons. Currently, he edits the Journal of Moral Theology.    

Julie Hanlon Rubio is professor of social ethics at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. Previously, she taught for nineteen years at St. Louis University. Her research focuses on marriage, family, sex, and gender. She is the author of four books, including Family Ethics: Practices for Christians (Georgetown, 2010). She speaks to a wide variety of public audiences and writes for popular venues such as America magazine, National Catholic Reporter, the Washington Post, and US Catholic.

Table of Contents

Sex, Love, and Families: Lived Christianity in Context Jason King Julie Hanlon Rubio 1

I Sex 7

1 Hookups, Happiness, and Human Flourishing Jennifer Beste 9

2 Relationships Instead of Hooking Up? Justice in Dating Megan K. McCabe 23

3 "A Woman's Pain Is Not a Gift": Toward Sexual Flourishing for All Elizabeth L. Antus 35

4 Infertility: A Lens for Discerning Parenthood in Marriage Kathryn Lilla Cox 47

5 Marriage and Householding in Christ Kent Lasnoski 59

6 Beyond "Helping Out": Fathers as Caregivers Hoon Choi 69

7 How Gendered Is Marriage? Cristina L. H. Traina 79

8 Born That Way? The Challenge of Trans/Gender Identity for Catholic Theology Craig A. Ford Jr. 91

II Love 103

9 Love as Holiness in the Daily Lives of Married Couples Bridget Burke Ravizza Julie Donovan Massey 105

10 An Intersectional View of Love in Marriage Emily Reimer-Barry 117

11 A School for Love: Marriage as Christian Friendship Richard Gaillardetz 129

12 Learning to Dwell with the Beloved: The Wisdom of the Marriage Liturgy Timothy P. O'Malley 139

13 Valuing Family Care: Love and Labor Sandra Sullivan-Dunbar 151

14 Family Relationships and Incarceration Kathryn Getek Soltis 163

15 Cohabitation: Part of the Journey toward Marriage? Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman 175

16 Singleness as a Vocation of Love Jana Marguerite Bennett 185

III Families 197

17 Mixed-Status Families, Solidarity, and Lo Cotidiano Victor Carmona 199

18 It Takes a Global Village: Families in the Age of Migration Gemma Tulud Cruz 211

19 Signs of Union: Interchurch Families in a Fragmented World Daniel Olsen 223

20 Secular Catholic Families: Inheritance and Invention Tom Beaudoin 235

21 Catholics and Feminists on Work, Family, and Flourishing Christine Firer Hinze 247

22 Wanting "the Best" for "Our" Kids: Parenting and Privilege David Cloutier 259

23 Reading the Screens of Our Times: Attention and Resistance Marcus Mescher 271

24 A Spirituality for Parenting in a Hurried Age Tim Sue Muldoon 283

25 Cultivating Resistance: Youth Protest and the Common Good Mary M. Doyle Roche 293

List of Contributors 305

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

"Sex, marriage, and family mores are changing radically. Whether you are celebrating or alarmed, you can learn from the realistic, hopeful, and impactful voices gathered here. They seek the light of faith in LGBTQI identity, campus hook-ups, heartbreaking pregnancy loss, identity-challenging infertility, undocumented siblings, incarcerated parents, interchurch families, ‘secular Catholic' families, twenty-first century parenting, marital love as abiding friendship, discipleship through divorce, and more. Sex, Love, and Families would make an excellent course text; no student would skip the readings and the discussions would run themselves."
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Monan Professor of Theology, Boston College

"I cannot think of any duo more competent or attractive for hosting a Catholic discourse on Sex, Love, and Family than Jason King and Julie Rubio. Today, in the United States, millions agree to disagree about what constitutes good sex, good love, and good family, but that agreement is usually followed by a silence because few are willing to hear the differences. Well, those days are over because our editors did not shy away from truly challenging contributors. Pick up his book and discover that you are probably not as conservative (or as progressive) as you thought. These are powerful, thoughtful, and honest pieces and their claims ought to finally end the timid silence that has been way too seductive and self-serving."
James F. Keenan, SJ, Canisius Professor of Theology, Boston College


"Certainly, this is a think-outside-the-box read. Norms applying to topics of gender, sex, and marital patriarchy can move beyond the past. This book is an excellent resource toward that end."
Catholic Books Review


"This book addresses some of the most compelling subjects in Catholic and even in human history. There is a lot to ponder here and a basket of hope for new ways of thinking."
Emmanuel


“This book is an excellent resource for undergraduate and graduate courses and parish religious education in sexual and marital ethics.”
Journal of Catholic Social Thought
 


"Overall, King and Rubio, in this volume, succeed in making a useful contribution to the dialogue about Catholic sexual and family ethics. I strongly recommend this book for use in an undergraduate classroom (and indeed, I hope to use it in such a setting), where it will both challenge and affirm students’ engagement with their own experiences."
The Central Minnesota Catholic


"The book is a valuable resource for ministry formation programs and parish leaders willing to expand their vision and broaden their perspective on how the church can meet the needs of the greater community."
Pastoral Liturgy

From the Publisher