26 Saturday Jan 2019
Do you want a healthy and happy marriage? Then listen to Lisa Brenninkmeyer as she shares the truth about marriage and explains how to set yourself up for success before saying “I do.” Even if you have said “I do,” you will find truths to counter the cultural lies about love and relationships.
29 Saturday Dec 2018
Each year, on the first Sunday after Christmas, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. We are invited to ponder and imitate the love of the Holy Family in our homes and families. Mary and Joseph are models of holy, faithful, obedient, and fruitful love. By their example, may we too put Christ at the center of our families.
Today also marks a milestone for the Calling Couples to Christ Apostolate. This is our 200th blog post. We launched this apostolate because we have a passion for the permanence and sanctity of marriage, as well as a desire to help others experience the joy that comes from living a Christ-centered marriage. If you are touched by what we write here, please share it with others. Our culture is so in need of examples of holy families living out the Gospel in everyday life. Let your light shine in the darkness.
24 Monday Dec 2018
Tags
Christ, Christmas, joy, love, peace, St. Pope John Paul II, Virgin Mother
Adoration of the Shepherds by Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1646
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
The following is an excerpt from St. John Paul II’s Urbi Et Orbi Message, Christmas 2002.[1]
15 Saturday Dec 2018
Tags
The love between husband and wife…is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family.[1]
As the journey toward Bethlehem continues, we shift our focus to making Christ the center of our families. We began the journey by focusing on the importance of making Jesus the center of our lives. Last week, we discussed making Jesus the center of our marriages.
Pope St. John Paul II in his epic work Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), states that “the family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can and should do…family, become what you are.”[2]
09 Sunday Dec 2018
Advent is a journey toward Bethlehem to find the Christ child, to embrace Him, to make Him the Lord of every aspect of your life. Last week, we began the journey by focusing on the importance of encountering Jesus personally. This week, we will explore why it is important to make Jesus the center of your marriage. Next week, we’ll discuss making Christ the center of your family. We’ll conclude with the mission He has called you to carry out in your neighborhood and in the world.
Why put Christ at the center of your marriage?
In Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis explains that. “Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and understandings, a plan that sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love.”[1]
In other words, the more we put Jesus at the center of our lives and our marriages, the more completely we are able to give ourselves to our spouse.
27 Saturday Oct 2018
Are you suffering difficulties and strife in marriage, even separation and divorce? God can heal your broken relationship.
Rose and I (Dennis) were both widowed. Before the death of my first wife, Therese, I experienced God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness in healing after divorce.
By faith, in confidence, with perseverance and obedience to God, my marriage was saved from the pit of death. God is faithful. He never gives up on any of His children. Was the pain of my divorce worth it? Was standing eight years for the healing of my marriage worth it? Were the sorrow, pain and loneliness worth it? Was having my marriage restored only to have my wife die two short years later worth it? Yes, by the grace of God, it was worth it!
20 Saturday Oct 2018
Tags
conflict, forgiveness, healing, hurt, love, mercy, unforgiveness
In our marriage coaching, we frequently see unforgiveness as a major obstacle for couples in achieving the intimate and fulfilling relationships that they deeply desire. Unforgiveness, bitterness, and anger towards your spouse poisons the relationship. We have heard it said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. True healing can only take place when offenses are forgiven, and forgotten, never to be brought up again as a weapon against your spouse.
01 Saturday Sep 2018
Tags
Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe (Jan. 8, 1894 – Aug. 14, 1941) died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz, during World War II, and is remembered as a “martyr of charity” for dying in place of another prisoner who had a wife and children. He was canonized by St. John Paul II on October 10, 1982. Present at the canonization was Franciszek Gajowniczek, one of the ten men from his barracks picked to suffer death by starvation as punishment for the escape of a prisoner. His life was spared when Fr. Kolbe volunteered to take his place.
24 Sunday Jun 2018
Tags
Virtues are absolutely essential for marriages to thrive. A virtue is the habitual and firm disposition to do the good. The Latin root of the word is virtus, which means “strength” or “power.” Growing in virtue is a lifelong task to strengthen your willpower to choose what is best and right even in the most difficult of circumstances.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) our efforts will be fortified by grace: Continue reading
15 Sunday Apr 2018
Tags
During Lent I read the Manual for Men, a book geared for those who are soldiers for Christ and His Church. These men battle for sanctity in their lives and in the lives of their family. The evil one is attacking families because marriage images Christ’s love for His bride, the Church. It is a battle that men must fight and win.
