Two Become Family with Renzo and Monica Ortega
Renzo and Monica share stories, advice, and encouragement for everyday Catholics navigating the human side of a faith-filled marriage. They both bring a voice of joyful solidarity from their experience living in the trenches with a growing family. Their honesty and witness offer hope to couples who want to find confidence in their vocation to marriage through a candid and faithful discussion.
Renzo and Monica Ortega are Catholic ministry leaders, podcast hosts, authors, and national speakers. Their latest title, Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse was published through Ave Maria Press. They host the popular marriage podcast Two Become Family and speak nationally for the St. John Paul II Foundation’s Together in Holiness conference series.
Their testimonies of faith, marriage, and parenting have been featured by the National Catholic Register, the Knights of Columbus, and Augustine Institute. They are coauthors of the children’s devotional Go to Joseph for Children, and Renzo is also the author of the men’s devotional Go to Joseph: 10 Day Preparation for Consecration to St. Joseph.
Two Become Family with Renzo and Monica Ortega
174. Husbands Don’t Need Sex… But Does Your Marriage?
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What does every married couple need to understand about sex—especially when conversations online say things like “men don’t need sex”?
In this episode, we unpack 5 essential truths about sex in marriage that are often misunderstood, oversimplified, or argued about without enough clarity. While it’s true that no one needs sex to physically survive, reducing sexual intimacy to something optional—or purely personal—can quietly damage a marriage over time.
We explore why sexual desire isn’t just about pleasure, release, or pressure, but about desiring the spouse as a whole person. We also address the real fears many people carry into conversations about sex—fear of being used, objectified, or reduced to a body—and why those fears are sometimes justified and sometimes misplaced.
Most importantly, we present a vision of marital sexuality that’s bigger than both obligation and autonomy. When rightly understood, male sexual desire can reflect Christ’s self-giving love and pursuit of His Church, transforming sex from a battleground into a place of unity, trust, and mutual gift.
In this episode, we cover:
• Why men don’t need sex to survive—but marriages do need sexual intimacy
• How sexual desire goes beyond pleasure and points toward the spouse as a person
• Why the phrase “men don’t need sex” can confuse the lived experience of male sexuality
• How fear of being used or objectified shapes misunderstandings about sex
• How male desire, properly ordered, can mirror Christ’s love for His Church
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 Children
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