A reader asks about a pregnant neighbor

He writes:I have a question I thought you might be able to help me with. An acquaintance of mine — someone I see regularly but don’t know intimately enough to consider a friend — recently announced that she is pregnant. She is not, however, married nor has she given any indication that she intends to marry the father of her child.I found myself simply not knowing how to react to this news or how to behave. Obviously, I was pleased for her, as she is genuinely happy at the prospect of being a mother. However, part of me nevertheless cringes at the fact that she’s not married and sees no need to be. Maybe I’m terribly old fashioned and out of step but that doesn’t sit well with me.At the same time, I most definitely do not want to be a Christian who’s more concerned about propriety than I am about the fact that this woman is not only about to become a mother but is doing so in a culture where many women in her situation would choose otherwise. I want to be supportive of her decision to give birth but I also don’t want to be condone her decision to do so unwed (I should add that she is a Catholic).Am I straining at gnats here? Is this something worth worrying about or am I tying myself in knots over a problem that doesn’t exist? I know only too well how many well-meaning Christians come across as scolds rather than as conveying the joy of the Gospel. I don’t want to do that, but her decision to have a child with a man she doesn’t intend to marry doesn’t sit well with me.I think the thing to do is affirm what can be affirmed here: the decision to