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Two Become Family Podcast: Conversations and Encouragement For Your Catholic Family
By Renzo and Monica OrtegaSociety & CultureReligion & SpiritualityChristianityRelationshipsKids & Family
Two Become Family Podcast: Conversations and Encouragement For Your Catholic Family episodes
- Is AI Forming Your Family? Magnifica Humanitas and Pope Leo’s Warning for Parents
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
In this episode, Renzo and Monica pause their regular series to talk about Pope Leo’s latest encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, through the lens of marriage and family life.
This is not meant to be a full summary of the document. It is an invitation to read it. But as we worked through the encyclical, we kept seeing how much Pope Leo’s reflections on human dignity, artificial intelligence, technology, algorithms, and the attention economy matter for Catholic families.
The rebuilding of society starts in the home. The family is where a child first learns who he is, what he is worth, and what it means to be loved. That matters even more in a world where technology is forming imagination, attention, self-worth, and desire.
We talk about why parents cannot afford to ignore AI, why filters and blockers are not enough, how the attention economy exploits vulnerability, and why AI can imitate care but can never actually love us.
We also discuss how marriage and family life teach our children the difference between a tool and a person, between quick answers and real relationships, and between being managed by technology and being formed in love.
To read the full ten points from the encyclical, visit our accompanying article on Substack.
Follow us on Instagram @twobecomefamily.
Looking for some accompaniment when it comes to talk about sex with your spouse?, Check out our book and order Lovemaking: How to talk about sex with your spouse
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenDon't forget to visit https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/
Support the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...33 min - Your Spouse Was Never Meant to Be Your Happily Ever After
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
What happens when you go into marriage expecting your spouse to make you happy, fix your wounds, or finally give your life the meaning you’ve been looking for?
In this episode, we talk about why your spouse was never meant to be your savior. Marriage is not just two people coexisting, splitting chores, raising kids, and trying to stay comfortable. For Catholics, marriage is a sacramental journey toward Jesus. That means romance, joy, friendship, suffering, healing, sacrifice, and grace all belong inside the story.
We also talk about the “pictures” we carry into marriage, how shows like Boy Meets World shaped our expectations, why marriage can feel disappointing when our picture is wrong, and why Jesus has to be more than an add-on in marriage formation.
Looking for some accompaniment when it comes to talk about sex with your spouse?, Check out our book and order Lovemaking: How to talk about sex with your spouse
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenDon't forget to visit https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/
Support the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...27 min - Why Gen Z Doesn't Think Marriage Matters Anymore
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
Send share this episode with a priest who walks with couples! Or share it with a young person, engaged couple, or married couple that wishes the Church gave them more guidance.
We try walking with couples about sex, that's why we wrote this book to help Order Lovemaking: How to talk about sex with your spouse
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenDon't forget to visit https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/
Support the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...29 min - Why Catholic Marriage Theology Feels Unreachable
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
On Tuesday 28 April 2026, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life will hosted a study day asking:
"How can the Church form pastors capable of accompanying young people, engaged couples, and spouses so that they live Christian marriage as an authentic experience of faith in a cultural context marked by secularization? Several speakers addressed that question, including Father Andrea Bozzolo, rector of the Pontifical Salesian University."
No one invited us, BUT we still wanted to add our two cents on how the Church could do a better job accompanying young people, engaged, couples, and married people.
Catholic marriage is not just a beautiful idea. It is a sacrament lived through sex, sacrifice, fertility, exhaustion, money, children, resentment, forgiveness, prayer, and the daily choice to love someone who is also being slowly sanctified by God at the same time. Catholic couples need understanding and guidance, not sentimental language. If the Church wants to really accompany people, they need to shift away from, giving couples a romanticized theology of marriage because, though good and true, it ultimately leaves them feeling alone with the actual work of becoming one flesh.
Send share this episode with a priest who walks with couples! Or share it with a young person, engaged couple, or married couple that wishes the Church gave them more guidance.
We try walking with couples about sex, that's why we wrote this book to help Order Lovemaking: How to talk about sex with your spouse
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenDon't forget to visit https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/
Support the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...32 min - Why Should the Resurrection Change How Catholics Talk About Sex?
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
Why would the Resurrection change how Catholics talk about sex?
We got into an online argument about sex, marriage, and what husbands are owed. But the more we talked, the more we realized the real disagreement was deeper than sex. It was about what marriage is, what sexual desire is, and whether how we understood the Resurrection actually changes what we believe our bodies are for.
We wrote a Catholic s*x book! Check it out: Order LOVEMAKING!
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenSUPPORT OUR APOSTOLATE
Thank you all for your ongoing support. We love what we do and pray that it is a blessing to you and your families. If you are benefitting in some way from what we're doing read and subscribe to our Substack: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/Our Apostolate
About Us
Connect with us and send us a message on Instagram
YouTube ChannelSupport the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...34 min - Fighting In Front of Your Kids
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
We got into an argument in front of our kids and then we talked about it. Let's jump in!
We wrote a Catholic s*x book! Check it out: Order LOVEMAKING!
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenSUPPORT OUR APOSTOLATE
Thank you all for your ongoing support. We love what we do and pray that it is a blessing to you and your families. If you are benefitting in some way from what we're doing read and subscribe to our Substack: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/Our Apostolate
About Us
Connect with us and send us a message on Instagram
YouTube ChannelSupport the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...32 min - Unspoken Expectations and Premeditated Resentment
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
We are back! Back to conversations on the couch, and today we're talking about how unspoken expectations can become opportunities for future resentment. We share about how we've navigated speaking our minds and how we've worked through our own resentments. We're so happy you're here.
We wrote a Catholic s*x book! Check it out: Order LOVEMAKING!
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenSUPPORT OUR APOSTOLATE
Thank you all for your ongoing support. We love what we do and pray that it is a blessing to you and your families. If you are benefitting in some way from what we're doing read and subscribe to our Substack: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/Our Apostolate
About Us
Connect with us and send us a message on Instagram
YouTube ChannelSupport the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...31 min - Ortega Life Update
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
We are back! Sort of. Here's a quick life update from us. We will be back with a new episode next week. Please keep us in your prayers!
We wrote a Catholic sex book! Check it out: Order LOVEMAKING!
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenSUPPORT OUR APOSTOLATE
Thank you all for your ongoing support. We love what we do and pray that it is a blessing to you and your families. If you are benefitting in some way from what we're doing read and subscribe to our Substack: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/Our Apostolate
About Us
Connect with us and send us a message on Instagram
YouTube ChannelSupport the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...13 min - Lent - Rupture and Repair
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
Sorry this has come so late! Our family has had to navigate a couple of things so we haven't been able to keep up.
Thank you for understanding and your support!
We wrote a Catholic sex book! Check it out: Order LOVEMAKING!
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenSUPPORT OUR APOSTOLATE
Thank you all for your ongoing support. We love what we do and pray that it is a blessing to you and your families. If you are benefitting in some way from what we're doing read and subscribe to our Substack: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/Our Apostolate
About Us
Connect with us and send us a message on Instagram
YouTube ChannelSupport the show
Support the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...23 min - Lent - Asking for Help
Send us a voicemail to tell us what you think!
Parenting has a way of bringing you to the end of yourself. There are seasons where the noise, the conflict, the exhaustion, and the constant needs of your kids can make you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water. A lot of parents quietly assume that if things feel this hard, it must mean they’re doing something wrong. But the truth is that family life was never meant to be carried alone.
In this episode of our Lenten Series, we talk about what it looks like to ask for help when parenting becomes overwhelming. Not in theory, but in the real, messy moments that every parent eventually faces. We walk through three places parents can turn for help when things feel difficult. First, we talk about going to your spouse and learning to lean on each other instead of trying to carry everything individually. Marriage is meant to be a partnership, and parenting becomes much heavier when we stop asking our spouse to step in with us.
Second, we talk about seeking help from people who are just a little further ahead of you in family life. Parents whose kids are a few years older, who have already walked through the season you’re in. They don’t need to be perfect parents to offer wisdom. In fact, some of the most helpful guidance comes from people who have made mistakes and learned along the way. And finally, we talk about therapy—both for parents and for children—and why reaching out for professional help can sometimes be one of the most loving and responsible things you can do for your family.
If parenting has felt heavier than you expected lately, this episode is an honest conversation about why asking for help is not weakness. It’s often the very thing that helps a family grow stronger.
We wrote a Catholic sex book! Check it out: Order LOVEMAKING!
Our other books
Go To Joseph: 10 Day Consecration to St. Joseph
Go To Joseph For ChildrenSUPPORT OUR APOSTOLATE
Thank you all for your ongoing support. We love what we do and pray that it is a blessing to you and your families. If you are benefitting in some way from what we're doing read and subscribe to our Substack: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/Our Apostolate
About Us
Connect with us and send us a message on Instagram
YouTube ChannelSupport the show
Support the show
BOOKS, WRITING, AND RESOURCES
📕 Order Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse
https://www.avemariapress.com/products/lovemaking📕 Pre-Order The Quest For The Male Soul: Discover What Your Life Is For
https://a.co/d/08A9vSRhAlto from Ascension’s learn more and subscribe to Alto: https://ascension-press.linkjolt.io/redirect?tc=WfiAGx9e&aff=yiwH1nGSUbss9NbfLPx5K
Our Merch
https://www.two-become-family-shop.fourthwall.com✍️ Read our writing on Catholic marriage, family life, communication, intimacy, parenting, and ordinary holiness: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com
🎤 Book Renzo and Monica to speak for your parish, diocese, marriage retreat, conference, or Catholic event: https://twobecomefamily.substack.com/p/book-renzo-and-monica-to-speak-for
🏠 Learn more about Two Become Family: ...22 min
About Two Become Family Podcast: Conversations and Encouragement For Your Catholic Family
From the publisher's feed
Welcome to the podcast where we echo the words of St. John Paul II and encourage families to "Believe in what you are!"
We are Renzo and Monica Ortega, we've been married 13 years,…
we have 5 kids, and our apostolate, Two Become Family, encourages Catholics who love the Church, love each other, and still feel like marriage and family life is harder than it's supposed to be.
Through our very candid, and sometimes uncomfortably vulnerable, conversations about sex, NFP, conflict, family life, we hope to spark conversations between you and your spouse leaving you with a little more joy and a lot more hope that you have what it takes to be a family.
Visit us at https://twobecomefamily.substack.com for more for your marriage
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