Category

Marriage Enrichment

Dec 22
0

Feed the Hungry: Identify and Respond to Your Partner’s Deepest Longings

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

For I was hungry and you gave me food . . .  —Matthew 25:35  Teresa  “He doesn’t understand me.” “She doesn’t fulfill me any longer.” “I am not getting what I need from this marriage.” These statements, representing a real spiritual and emotional hunger, are not just something you hear from  desperate guests on the latest episode of Dr. Phil. Unfortunately, they are all too often spoken by many frustrated spouses.    Marriage is in crisis in our country and our world. In the United States the divorce rate still hovers around 50 to 60 percent, and the numbers aren’t all that much different among those who identify themselves as Christians.    So what’s the problem? How can two people who fall in love and vow to love each other “until death do us part” in front of God, their family, and friends . . . then give up on their relationship just years, or in some cases, only months later?   How many other married couples, even if…

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Nov 29
1

Give the Gift of Your Presence This Year

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

By John Bosio  The Bible verse John 3:16 is often displayed at sporting events. It represents a passage from the Gospel of John proclaiming the greatest gift humanity has received from God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone… might have eternal life.”  At Christmas, we celebrate the gift of God’s son and his presence as a person among us.   Why not give the gift of your presence to your family at Christmas this year? Our presence is the most important gesture of love that we can give to the people we care about. Too often at Christmas we are focused on giving each other material presents, and forget that the most valuable one is the gift of our attention and presence.   Dave and Diane (not their real names) are a couple in their early thirties. Married seven years, they have two children. Dave is a successful professional and Diane works part-time at the local library. They are a normal couple and face the challenges that…

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Nov 29
0

First Week of Advent – Wednesday

By | Communication, Family Life, Finding Joy, Holidays, Marriage Enrichment, Meaning of Marriage, Spirituality | No Comments

By Fr. John Burns Think of the steps of St. Joseph’s greatness. He began by the pure love of a spotless virgin. Gradually, as the mystery unfolded itself, the earthly love turned to enraptured veneration, and Mary became to him a trust from the God of his fathers, a divine treasure to be guarded from every shadow of ill.  James J. McGovern, The Manual of the Holy Catholic Church  To See with Eyes of Faith  As we observed in the introduction, Wednesdays are traditionally devoted to St. Joseph, and we invite him in a special way into our movement toward the manger throughout Advent.   St. Joseph learned in a privileged way what it means to live in the presence of God and to be moved by the beauty of God’s grace. He was granted the singular gift of marriage to the greatest jewel of all of creation, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  …

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Nov 29
1

Begging for Union

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

By Christy Wilkens  In a perfect world, a husband and wife lay down their lives for each other as Christ lays down his body for us in the Eucharist. Both marriage and Holy Communion are sacrament and sacrifice, examples of how dying to self produces life-giving love.  We do not live in a perfect world. Every individual, and every marriage, bears the mark of the Fall in unique and exquisitely painful ways. Stress. Infidelity. Disease. Addiction. Misunderstanding that festers into resentment.  For hope in these dark moments, when love seems lost and our human powers of reconciliation fail, let us draw upon these words: “Never permit me to be separated from You.”  That line is from the Spiritual Communion prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori, a prayer that allows us to commune fully with Jesus in God’s mysterious space-time while we are apart in our own. This humble prayer can also unite us with our spouses across emotional distance. Our marriages…

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Oct 28
1

The Bride without Shoes

By | Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance | No Comments

By John Bosio November 18, 1972: It was the day after our wedding. I remember driving on I-70 East, away from Kansas City toward the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It was a snowy and windy day, but inside our little car, a 1970 orange-colored Maverick, it was warm and cozy. It was the place where we wanted to be. It was our car. It represented our new world. It was just the two of us, starting our life together. We had dreamed of spending our honeymoon strolling the Ozarks hills and visiting many quaint places. The snow that was coming down, wet and heavy, was redesigning our plans. That did not bother us. What was important to us was that we were together. It snowed for two days. On the third day, although there were ten inches of snow on the ground, we decided to get out and explore the area.  As…

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Oct 28
0

Resentment: Lord, the One You Love Is Keeping Score

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Our first child was a colicky baby, and my wife and I weren’t prepared for how the emotional ups and downs, the anxiety of not knowing what to do, and the dread of being alone with a baby put stress on our relationship. One of the ways that stress manifested in our life was in the idea of keeping score. Our son cried a lot in the middle of the night, and when we would shift-change during those times, we would easily fall victim to being resentful of the other—resentful if they didn’t try to soothe him for what we thought was a long enough time, resentful if they didn’t try to soothe him in a manner that we thought was best, and (believe it or not) resentful if they were able to get him back to sleep after we had been unsuccessful moments earlier. People warn new parents about…

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Aug 18
0

The Power of Touch

By | Communication, Finding Joy, Marriage Enrichment, Romance, Sexual Intimacy and NFP | No Comments

By John Bosio  A few years ago while in Rome, Teri and I visited the Vatican Museums. We had been there before, and on that day our primary objective was to spend time in the Sistine Chapel. We got up early to be first in line, and soon after the Museum opened, we entered its gate and darted across halls and chambers toward the famous chapel.   We finally arrived and we were able to find a seat on one of the benches located on the periphery of the room. It is difficult to appreciate Michelangelo’s masterpiece, painted on the ceiling of the chapel, when standing and looking up surrounded by a crowd. So we were fortunate to find a seat.  My eyes were drawn to a panel in the center of the ceiling, full of light and with a simple composition.  On the right, a dignified and energetic image of the Creator reaching…

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Jun 28
1

Love

By | Communication, Family Life, Marriage Enrichment | No Comments

This I command you: love one another. —John 15:17 Although love is the most important fruit of the Holy Spirit, it’s also the least understood. If you put the word “love” in an internet search engine, the results will probably include the words “feeling,” “desire,” or “romance.” According to advertisers, we express love for others by buying expensive gifts. According to the media, celebrity couples fall in and out of love every day. We speak of loving everything from sports to chocolate cake. In Matthew 22:36–39, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love our neighbor. This brings us to an important question—what exactly is love? According to St. Thomas Aquinas, “To love is to will the good of another.” Contrary to what the world believes, love is not a feeling. While it is true that affection often accompanies love,…

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Apr 26
1

Crafting Your Couple (or Family) Mission Statement

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

By Mark and Melanie Hart It’s vital for couples to have a common vision of what success looks like at home and not just view parenting as a shared workload. This is one reason we believe so strongly that every couple should have a mission statement for their marriage and family. It should be something you can craft together, live by, and, as the kids get older, introduce to your children. Every couple’s mission statement will look different, but here are some priorities that you may want to consider: Putting your marriage relationship first. Incorporating your Catholic faith. Committing to serving others as a family. Practicing hospitality and having a home open to visitors. Making healthy lifestyle choices. Teaching your kids about the faith. Fostering prayer and virtue within the home. We recommend taking this project to prayer and asking the Lord to guide you as you write down what…

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Mar 24
2

Sacramental Blueprint for a Happier Marriage

By | Catholic Weddings, Communication, Family Life, Marriage Enrichment, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

By John Bosio  A few years ago I read in our Catholic newspaper an interview with a couple who attended the annual wedding anniversary Mass presided by the local bishop. The reporter asked the wife to share the secret of their successful fifty-year marriage. The wife responded that they had found great strength in their shared faith and in their participation in the Church’s sacraments.    If we were to ask a hundred Catholic couples how their faith helps them persevere and grow in their relationship we would likely hear a hundred different answers. But in these answers we would find a common theme: their understanding of what love is. Catholic couples learn the qualities of Christian love when they gather around the Eucharistic table and when they participate in the sacraments. When gathered as a community in prayer, they hear Jesus’ message: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12)  And as…

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