Monthly Archives: September 2019

Competition in Marriage

29 Sunday Sep 2019

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Are you a competitive person? Do you like to compete with your spouse? Here are some signs of competition in your marriage:

  1. You will do whatever it takes to win an argument.
  2. You always have to be right.
  3. You take winning a little too seriously, even in fun activities like board games.
  4. Everything becomes a contest.
  5. You gloat when you win.
  6. You are a sore loser.

Competition in marriage is deadly. In our coaching ministry, we encourage couples with weak conflict resolution skills to work together to brainstorm win-win solutions to their disagreements. When both spouses in a marriage feel that their needs and desires are being met, they work together to identify and implement a solution.

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Satan Hates Marriage

22 Sunday Sep 2019

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Throughout Scripture, God uses marriage as an analogy of His love for us. God created us for friendship with Him. His plan is for us to share in His divine life for all eternity. Everything that God created is good; it was created out of love. God created man and woman, instituting marriage as a sacrament to bless them. Through marriage, He commanded them to be fruitful and fill the earth.

One of His creatures, an angel, rebelled out of envy of us. Through “the devil’s envy death entered the world” (Wisdom 2:24). Because the devil couldn’t defeat God, he went to battle with the creatures that God loved most, human beings created in His image and likeness.

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The Greatest Enemy of Love

15 Sunday Sep 2019

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The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort, and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish. [1] St. John Paul II

St. John Paul II said that the greatest destroyer of love in marriage is selfishness. It is one of the 12 marriage killers described by Richard Fitzgibbons in his book Habits for a Healthy Marriage: A Handbook for Catholic Couples.[2] Fitzgibbons says that developing virtue is the antidote to these unhealthy habits in marriage.

“Selfishness is the major enemy of married love and of life-long commitment in marriage” (57), says Fitzgibbons. St. John Paul II warned about selfishness in his 1994 Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane…

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The Role of the Holy Spirit in Marriage

08 Sunday Sep 2019

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Come Holy Spirit Wedding

Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy…he who prophesies speaks to men for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3

The Sacraments are an encounter with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is present in all of the Sacraments. At baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit; we are immersed in Christ’s death and resurrection, freed from the stain of original sin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments” (CCC, 1213, emphasis added).

Have you ever wondered why couples who marry in the Catholic Church have to be baptized? It is because the Holy Spirit is imparted at baptism and this is a requirement for the marriage to be sacramental. In “this sacrament the spouses receive the Holy Spirit as the communion of love of Christ and the Church. The Holy Spirit is the seal of their covenant, the ever available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity” (CCC, 1624, emphasis added).

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Marriage Through the Lens of Scripture

02 Monday Sep 2019

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Marriage Through the Lens of Scripture 02

We are excited to present a preview of our upcoming Witness to Love Marriage Preparation retreat videos, presented by Fr. John Riccardo of ACTS XXIX and produced by our Apostolate Calling Couples to Christ. Thanks to Veritatis Media and Diakonia Productions for the production of this awesome video!

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