Category

Finding Joy

Nov 23
0

Celebrate Your Story 

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance | No Comments

By John Bosio    I have never met a couple, regardless of how long they have been married, who did not cherish sharing memories of their beginning and of the key moments in their life together.  Every couple is a unique story. You and your spouse are a story. I invite you to celebrate the journey you have traveled thus far together by recalling your story.  The song from the movie The Love Story. sung by Andy Williams, comes to mind: “Where do I begin to tell the story of a love…”  If I asked you to tell me your love story where would it begin? Would you start telling your story from your wedding day or would you go back to a time when you first met, or even to a time before you ever knew each other?   Each year for the past seven years, when I go to Thailand on business, I am reminded…

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Aug 27
0

Enthronement Offers a New Beginning in Your Marriage

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Marriage Preparation, Spirituality | No Comments

By Emily Jaminet More than seven years ago, my family welcomed Jesus in a special way through the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On that day, my husband and I were joined by our six children and my parents for this momentous occasion. At the time, we felt like “life was good” and marriage was “fine,” but we soon discovered that the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was offering us so much more! The enthronement allowed us to hit the pause button as a couple amid our very busy lives and pray that our Lord would come into our lives in a new way. Over the years, I have realized that every other significant spiritually impacting experience took place on retreats, at conferences, at our church, and in Holy Mass. The enthronement was the first time where as a couple and a family we were strengthened in the…

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Aug 27
1

The Marriage Matrix

By | Communication, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Marriage Preparation, Meaning of Marriage, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

By John Bosio With the release of the film trilogy The Matrix, a new word entered our popular vocabulary. The word “matrix” is actually an old word, according to the Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. It dates back to the sixteenth century and has its roots in Latin. Matrix means “something from which something else originates”  and “form or mold, and pattern.” Matrix is a word that describes well God’s relationship with humanity and our relationship with God. He is our matrix; the source of our being and of our life. God is the pattern in the likeness of whom we were made. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you are the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” (Is 64:8) Marriage is not an institution invented by humans: God created it. When God made the first man and the first…

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Aug 23
1

Don’t Let Your Marriage Go on Autopilot by John Bosio

By | Catholic Weddings, Communication, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance | No Comments

During the years of marriage it is easy for spouses to let their relationship shift into “automatic pilot” and to slowly drift apart, writes Bill Doherty, author of Take Back Your Marriage. As life goes on, spouses become preoccupied with the needs of their children and the demands of work.  In the meantime, they gradually neglect each other and begin to feel more and more distant. This drifting happens not because there is something wrong with the relationship but because such is the natural flow of things in married life. To avoid drifting to the point of disconnecting, Doherty recommends that spouses shift out of automatic pilot and take control of their life. He stresses the importance of intentionally doing things that keep them in touch with each other.  He recommends the use of rituals.  Marriage rituals are activities that husband and wife do together regularly.  For example, a couple…

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Jun 18
1

What Makes You Stay By John Bosio

By | Catholic Weddings, Communication, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Meaning of Marriage, Uncategorized | No Comments

“What makes you stay when your world falls apart  . . . when you can’t find any hope . . . Tell me what makes you stay,” sings country music artist Deana Carter. What makes you stay in your marriage?  Whenever I pose this question to couples I receive a variety of answers.  They say they stay because: they love each other they have a comfortable life together; they’ve made a lifetime commitment; they enjoy being together. What all of these responses have in common is a fundamental truth about the marital relationship: Marriage is something good that we desire.  What brings man and woman together and keeps them together is the goodness each spouse finds in the other and in their life in common. As Christians we believe that God intends for spouses to be a gift to each other, just as Adam and Eve were at creation. A…

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May 23
2

What Are You Looking For? by John Bosio

By | Catholic Weddings, Communication, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance, Uncategorized | No Comments

Several years ago my wife Teri and I helped lead a marriage preparation weekend.  During one of the sessions the engaged couples were asked to imagine their life together and to draw on a poster board their dreams for the future. Most couples sketched images of big homes, shiny cars, cute children, and successful careers. The poster that caught our attention was that of a young Vietnamese pair who could barely speak English.  At the center of their artwork they had placed a large red heart.  All around it and on a very small scale they depicted their hopes and dreams.  They explained: “What we want to have in 10 and 15 years from now is the happiness we feel today, when we are together.” What all spouses are looking for in marriage is happiness. They dream of a joy that comes from being each other’s faithful companions and best…

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Nov 19
3

Rethinking the Holidays: Finding Authentic Joy in the Holiday Season by Paul George

By | Communication, Finding Joy, Holidays, Marriage Enrichment, Spirituality | No Comments

The Christmas season is a wonderful time of year. It’s a time to gather with family and celebrate with friends. It’s a time to laugh, eat, sing, give, receive and love. The holidays are often filled with many memorable and joy-filled moments. But if I’m honest, the holidays can also be stressful. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve experienced anxiety and worry during a season when all should be merry. The stress of shopping and the worry of syncing calendars with family; anxiety over money, traveling, and taking time off of work; finding time to spend with everyone and dealing with expectation in more ways than one–the tension during the holidays is real and it can easily steal our joy. We all stress over different situations and face different challenges during this time of year. We typically deal with these situations in a few ways. We might pretend like we…

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