Posts Tagged ‘spirituality’
Five Suggestions for Holy Week
Palm Sunday (March 24) marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most solemn and prayerful time during the Church’s liturgical year. It’s an opportunity for couples to strengthen their own bond by reflecting on Jesus’s journey to Calvary. Here are five suggestions.
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?
The Busy Family’s Guide to Spirituality
How can parents encourage each family member “to grow in faith, hope and love”? Drawing on the wisdom of St. Benedict, the author offers practical guidance for dealing with the difficult tasks of family life.
Saints on Call: Everyday Devotions for Moms
When we need help or encouragement, it’s nice to know that we can turn to those special friends of God–the saints. These short biographies of 50 female saints will delight and inspire the reader.
Relating the Cross to Married and Family Life
This year the meditations for the 14 Stations of the Cross in Rome where composed by Danilo and Annamaria Zanzucchi, an Italian couple who have been married for 59 years. The couple “wanted to make sure that these texts bore the mark of a lived Christian experience and, at the same time, reflected our understanding of the Passion as it has developed through years of contact with thousands of couples.”
A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms
Are you looking for a little inspiration from a canonized saint or blessed? This book makes it easy to choose a saint for a short period of prayer or to find weekly models over the course of a year.
The Christian Way to Be Happily Married
“We do not need to retreat to a monastery, convent or mountain cabin for prayer, fasting and a traditional contemplative life in order to become increasingly virtuous, Christ-like persons,” says the author, David Sanderlin. “We can become increasingly virtuous, Christ-like persons in our own home by acting with love, wisdom and other Christian virtues in our busy marriage and family life.”
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.
Creating New Life, Nurturing Families: A Woman’s Perspective
Motherhood, says the author, is clearly a spiritual pursuit. It enlarges the ability to love so that one can spend eternity with a boundlessly loving God. Among other topics, Callahan looks at Christian perspectives on sexuality, including theology of the body; maternal dangers such as depression; balancing family and work; and joy and suffering.
Claiming Our Deepest Desires: The Power of an Intimate Marriage
The husband and wife authors point out that married love grows in the midst of real-life contexts, such as conflicts, child-rearing, and household budgets. They propose an integration of the spiritual and practical aspects of marriage.
Happiness, Suffering and the Meaning of Easter
Many people think happiness and suffering are mutually exclusive. Easter reminds us, however, that there is no resurrection without the cross. In marriage, deeper intimacy comes only through struggle.
Table and Prayers
Sara and Justin reflect on how prayer has been part of their relationship.
Blessings and Prayers for Married Couples
Whether you’re a couple with experience in praying together, or a couple who is just starting to do so, this book offers prayers to suit all situations. Its down-to-earth approach to spirituality makes this a valuable resource for couples who desire a deeper relationship with God and each other.
Lent: Spring Cleaning for the Soul
Lent begins on Wednesday, March 9. The Church calls this a “joyful season” and invites its members to think about and deepen their relationship with God. Read more about this wonderful opportunity to prepare for Easter–and for eternal life.
Catholic 101
Do you have questions about what the Catholic Church teaches or believes? Perhaps you’re puzzled by Catholic devotional practices and rituals. Whether you’re a cradle Catholic or a convert, a person from another faith tradition or a spiritual seeker, we hope this new series will help to answer your questions. At least once a week [...]
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places?
You might not think of the Bible as a source for inspiring and enduring love stories. Check out these ten and see if you change your mind.
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.
Perseverance: Love Never Ends
Every couple has times when they are disillusioned, angry, depressed, tired, or just plain ready to give up. Why do some couples persevere and others give up trying to make things work? Read about the three things that persevering couples have in common.
Forgiveness Fundamentals
Couples often find it easy to slide into conflict, but not so easy to forgive and reconcile with each other. How can spouses learn to forgive and move beyond the hurts caused by conflict? Here are seven “forgiveness fundamentals” that will help you to get started.
A Community of Love: Spirituality of Family Life
Marriage and family life are interwoven themes in this book by theologian David M. Thomas, who challenges parents and other family members to learn to recognize God’s presence in the most ordinary circumstances of their daily life together.
The Courage to be Married
It may not take courage to make a promise, but it can take a lot of courage to keep a promise. This is especially true for the promises we make on our wedding day.
March 2010: The Church’s Vision for Marriage: Getting Down to Basics
Much of the church’s vision for marriage “seems unreasonable and outdated” without “the firm understanding and belief that God is at the heart of every marriage,” said Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England. A purpose of the celebration was to affirm that God’s presence “makes clear the true nature of marriage.” People are led inevitably to regard marriage as “disposable and replaceable” when God’s role is not acknowledged, the archbishop said.
