11 Thursday Apr 2019
The Calling Couples to Christ apostolate was created to help couples live Christ-centered, joy-filled marriages by inviting them to a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. For more information, please contact us at info@callingcouplestochrist.org or visit our website and click on the Our Services tab.
07 Sunday Apr 2019
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On this the fifth Sunday of Lent, we continue our reflections on the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. This week we will look at the virtue of love. Links to the previous posts in this series are at the end of this reflection.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines charity, that is love, as “the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God” (CCC, 1823). Jesus even raises love to the level of a new commandment, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12).
31 Sunday Mar 2019
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On this the fourth Sunday of Lent, we continue our reflections on the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. This is the second week we will look at the virtue of hope. You can read the first two reflections on faith here and here, and the first reflection on hope here.
Hope is not a feeling or an attitude but a looking to and yearning for a future blessing from God. We (Rose and Dennis) were both widowed. God tested our mettle in the untimely deaths of our spouses. We both were given Jeremiah 29:11 during these trying times, finding encouragement in these words. We stood on this verse, believing deeply in our hearts that God would deliver on His promise.
24 Sunday Mar 2019
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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful Hebrews 10:23
On this the third Sunday of Lent, we continue our reflections on the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. We will transition to the virtue of hope for two weeks. You can read the first two reflections on faith here and here.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hope as “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 1817).
17 Sunday Mar 2019
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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful Hebrews 10:23
On this the second Sunday of Lent, we continue our reflections on the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. This is the second part of our study on the virtue of Faith. You can read the first reflection here.
In today’s first reading we are told, “Abram put his faith in the Lord” (Gen 15:6). This was Abram’s response to God’s promise to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Despite the fact that Abram and Sarah were childless and well past childbearing age, Abram believed and trusted that God would keep this promise.
10 Sunday Mar 2019
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On this the first Sunday of Lent, we invite you to journey with us as we study the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (803). Further, the “theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity” (1813). “Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us,” and it is by faith that “‘man freely commits his entire self to God’ (Dei Verbum, 5)” (1814).
In The Gift of Faith, Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer writes:
The desert is not a dwelling place; it is only a path, a road on which one comes to know the merciful love of God. Everyone who seeks God must pass through it since the experience of the desert is closely related to the deepening of our faith in His mercy.
03 Sunday Mar 2019
Build your love upon something more than just infatuation. Build it on something more transcendent, more spiritual, and more authentic.
Christ is that foundation. The love you have for Christ must be rooted in the heart of both husband and wife. This love must be present for your relationship to thrive. This kind of love is unchanging; it is not affected by the successes or trials of life. This love makes each relationship something beautiful, something joyful, something fruitful. It is a love bigger than both of you.
23 Saturday Feb 2019
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Archdiocese of Detroit, marriage coaching, Marriage Coaching Ministry, marriage fellowship groups, Marriage Missionaries, The Alexander House
Marriage is in crisis. Breakdown of the family is epidemic. In 2014, 48 international scholars and marriage advocates sent a Commitment to Marriage letter to members of the Synod on Marriage and Family. The letter was a call to action for the Church to support the building of strong, healthy, lifelong, and holy families. The letter included concrete proposals, based in part on social-science data, that if implemented would reduce family breakups.
One initiative that the letter proposed was the establishment of “vibrant networks of strong married couples as mentors at the parish level.” The Archdiocese of Detroit has implemented a Marriage Coaching Ministry that utilizes strong married couples as coaches and mentors to help couples to improve their marriages. Matt and Mindy Dalton, founders of Marriage Missionaries, brought this much needed ministry to Detroit.
16 Saturday Feb 2019
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Bishop Olmsted, Christ, Complete My Joy, family, family spirituality, fathers, Jesus, Marriage, mothers
The last two weeks (Part 1 and Part 2), we have been looking at Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s Apostolic Exhortation Complete My Joy, which he wrote to husbands and wives, mothers and fathers of the Diocese of Phoenix. He delves into the importance of having a marriage centered on Jesus Christ. This week we will look at his practical suggestions on how to strengthen your marriage and family life.
Bishop Olmsted identifies six key areas of growth for your marriage and family spirituality:
14 Thursday Feb 2019
Today we want to share with you a homily on how to live out love. It was given by Fr. Prentice Tipton, Associate Pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth, Michigan. Please meditate on this beautiful exegesis on love and share it with others.
“Love Bears All” – Fr. Prentice Tipton
(Please excuse the plywood backdrop; our sanctuary is under renovation.)
Wishing you a blessed St. Valentine’s Day!
Dennis & Rose
