When was the last time you had a marital check-up?

Regular medical exams are designed to identify potential health issues before they start. Identifying and treating these issues early increase your chances for living a longer and healthier life.

The same is true for marriage. Early identification and treatment of potential problem areas will improve your chances for living a lifelong, healthy and happy marriage. Assessment tools are available to assist you in gauging the health of your marriage and guiding your improvement efforts. One such tool is offered by PREPARE/ENRICH®, more commonly known for pre-marriage relationship assessments.

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Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to Mexico this past week. Here is an excerpt of the address he gave to families at the Víctor Manuel Reyna Stadium in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico on Monday, February 15, 2016.

Pope Francis greets people during a meeting with families at the Victor Manuel Reyna Stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, Feb. 15. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) See POPE-MEXICO-FAMILY Feb. 15, 2016.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I thank God for being here, on Chiapaneca soil. It feels good to be here on this soil, on this land; it is good to be here in this place which, with you here, has a family flavor, a home flavor. I give thanks for your faces and your presence; I give thanks to God because of the heart-beat of his presence in your families. I also thank you, families and friends, for giving us your witness, for opening to us the doors of your homes, the doors of your lives; you have allowed us to sit with you sharing both in the bread that nourishes you and in the sweat of your brow as you face the difficulties of every day. It is the bread representing the joys, the hopes and the hard sweat with which you confront sadness, disillusion and failings. I thank you for allowing me to enter into your families, your homes, and to sit at your tables.

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How many couples fully understand God’s plan for marriage when they say “I do?”

Pope Francis, in a recent address to the Officials of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota acknowledged that some do not understand the beauty, goodness and truth of God’s plan for marriage and it is the Church’s mission to help them understand.

He said, “Precisely because she is mother and teacher, the Church knows that among Christians there are those who are of strong faith, formed out of love and reinforced by good catechesis and nourished by prayer and a sacramental life, while others are of weak faith, overlooked and unformed, poorly educated or simply forgotten.”[1]

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