Archive for ‘For Every Marriage’
What’s Your Idea of Fun?
Has the prospect of warmer weather got you thinking about recreational pursuits? Most couples look forward to spending free time together. But what happens when you and your spouse have different ideas about the meaning of “fun”?
Who Me, Pray?… With Her?
How many times have you heard the suggestion to pray together as a couple? But how do you actually going about doing something that can seem strange and awkward, at least at first? Here are some practical tips.
Observing Lent? Try a Team Approach
Lent has begun! This year, consider approaching this holy season as a “marriage team.” You and your spouse don’t have to give up–or do–the same things, but you can actively support each other. Here are some ideas.
Gratitude: Foundational for Marriage
As Thanksgiving approaches, we take time to think of the many people in our lives for whom we are grateful. How about starting with our spouse?
Common Values: Making (or Breaking) a Marriage
A lack of common values can be a deal-breaker in a marriage. How close are you and your spouse, or fiance(e), on basic marriage values? Try this short exercise.
How to Make Moral Decisions
How can a couple discern God’s will when making moral decisions? That’s a critical question in any marriage. Moral decision-making is a process that includes prayerful reflection, conversation, and evaluation before reaching a conclusion. Here are some specific steps.
Play: A Virtue to Take Seriously
As summer begins, it’s good to remember that rest, relaxation, and even play can be helpful in a marriage. Play as a virtue? Of course! Whether we call it playfulness, a sense of humor, or a joyous spirit, this virtue can help a marriage over the rough spots and deepen intimacy. Here are some ideas for cultivating playfulness in your marriage.
Living Simply: A Lasting and Fulfilling Way of Life
Did you try to simplify your life this Lent? Do you wonder what it would be like to live simply throughout the year? Here are some ideas for making simplicity a lasting and fulfilling way to live.
How to Stop an Argument Before It Starts
Do you and your spouse seem to have the same arguments? A best-selling author identifies the top five arguments that occur in every family and shows how to stop them.
Moving Beyond “Healthy” Anger
Anger management experts often advise couples to try to move from “unhealthy” to “healthy” anger. Dr. David Sanderlin points out that “healthy anger” is not all it’s cracked up to be. He shows how couples can grow towards a Christ-like, anger-free marital love.
Finding Help When Your Marriage Is in Trouble
Problems are part of every marriage. The U.S. Catholic Bishops have identified a variety of resources to help couples with marital difficulties–everything from skills-building programs and support groups to professional counseling.
What Makes for a Happy and Lasting Marriage?
The recent royal wedding has prompted many people to wonder: What makes for a happy,enduring marriage? It’s not just luck! Read what social science research has discovered.
Jesus is Risen! Alleluia!
Easter is an exciting time as the Catholic Church welcomes tens of thousands of new members. Each has a story of conversion. Read about some of these new Catholics and their journeys of faith.
It Wasn’t an Option
Have you ever thought about how uniquely we approach a difficult situation when we know there is no other option? We put our heads together and keep working until we figure out a game plan. We get help. We pray. Sometimes, we hold our breath, muddle through until time passes and things change but we [...]
When Unemployment Hits Home: Seven Ways to Help Your Marriage
As the effects of the Great Recession continue, many couples are struggling with unemployment and its consequent stress. But couples are not powerless in the face of job loss. Here are seven positive actions a couple can take.
How to Deepen Empathy in Your Marriage: Three Key Skills
(From “Thriving Marriages” by John Yzaguirre, Ph.D., and Claire Frazier-Yzaguirre, M.Div., M.F.T, New City Press, 2004. http://www.thrivingfamilies.com/) It’s easy to fall into the trap of taking each other for granted or just putting up with each other. One husband described this bluntly: “When I get home my dog is the only one who seems excited to [...]
Help for Empty Nesters
The children have left home. You’re physically and emotionally tired, and perhaps feeling disconnected from your spouse. Can you really reinvent your marriage for the second half? Two well-known marriage educators offer some concrete tips and encouragement.
Five Tips to Fight Less and Love More
The holiday season is back. With family gatherings, high expectations and the pressure to make everyone happy, December can be the most stressful month of the year. How can couples keep their cool and make sure their marriage stays strong and that children see them at their best?
Patience: Key to a Lasting Marriage
When long-married couples are asked the recipe for marital success, many identify patience as a key ingredient. It’s the indispensable virtue for living together day after day in relative peace, without constant struggles to change the other to our liking.
Humility: Foundation for Marital Happiness
Pride is a mortal enemy to love, and also to lasting marital happiness. The antidote is humility–an acceptance of who and what we are.
“Just” Friends
Couples often speak of the joy of having married their best friend. What does friendship in marriage look like and how can it be nurtured?
Divorce and the Church’s Healing Ministry
Newly married couples begin life together in anticipation that their marriages will last. If a marital relationship subsequently ruptures couples can find themselves in very uncertain and sometimes fearful circumstances.
Married Couples and the Challenge of Military Service
Military service is a challenge not just to the families involved, but to parishes and the wider society. Archbishop Timothy Broglio discusses issues that confront military marriages, including finances, reentry into society, and post-traumatic stress.
Forgiveness: Healing the Hurts in Marriage
When we come to marriage we each bring our histories – healed or broken, reflected upon or repressed – to our life together. Our vocation is to help each other become fully human. This means finding a way to share hurts, to risk allowing the other person to know us so intimately that we are willing to open up old wounds and allow God to heal them through each other. Marriage at its best creates a safe space where healing and forgiveness can take place.
Drug Use Can Ruin a Marriage
Finding Mr. or Ms. Right is hard enough. You finally locate someone who shares your interests, who’s attractive, sympathetic, enjoys being with you. There’s only one problem: He (or she) uses drugs. Should you consider marrying a drug user?
