Newlyweds
Priorities & Ideals
What are your priorities? Priorities and Ideals are principles that you embrace as important to the quality of life you hope to experience. An Ideal is something you believe is good and desirable, however it remains an Ideal if you are not yet ready to make the sacrifices necessary to fit it into your life.…
Read MoreGod’s Love Lavished Upon Us
“God is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” 1 Jn 4:16 According to Pope Benedict XVI, the essence of being a Christian is not so much “the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives…
Read MoreThe Redemption of the Body
“The man and his wife were both naked yet they felt no shame” – Gn 2:25 The BattleGround of the heart We all know that it is possible to follow the rules or ‘the law of God’, without ever attaining holiness. We might do all the right things, but not really be committed in our…
Read MoreThe Power of Forgiveness
Let’s face it, your fiancé is not the only person who can or has hurt or disappointed you. Outside injuries, whether new or ancient, limit your ability to trust or to be completely generous and they often drive your behaviour. You can overreact to each other because of something someone else has done to you…
Read MoreFree to Love
The challenge before you is to learn to love the other effectively and to do so wholeheartedly and consistently with God’s abundant grace. Clearly some couples are ‘natural couples’; their formation makes it easy for them to express love in ways that are appreciated by the other. Other couples need to be constantly alert and…
Read MoreCommunion of Persons
“…man, as male-female is a person, created in the ‘image and likeness of God,’…this image is realised in the communion of persons.” TOB, n 69:4. pg 399. We are called to be ‘gift’, to make a gift of ourselves to another. The nature of this gift is more than just a bodily, physical sharing; the…
Read MoreGratitude
Extension Activities Gratitude is like a wonder drug! While many people turn to escapist distractions, the simple habit of gratitude is often more effective, and more enduring in its impact, in helping us to find the joy we seek. Gratitude Journal “Give thanks to God in all things” – 1 Thes 5:18 St Paul beseeches…
Read MoreMy Dream for Our Marriage
Extension Activity: Your Dream Write What is your dream for your relationship with each other? What would your ideal marriage look like? Describe a typical day or week in the marriage of your dreams. Be specific! How much eye contact would you have? How open would you be with your emotions, hopes, and dreams? Would…
Read MorePurity of Heart
Theology of the Body Insight “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 To be pure of heart means to be able to love another without self-interest; to set aside our own self-centred desires in order to love as a pure and unselfish gift of self. This purity of heart…
Read MoreAffirmation
Consistent, sincere affirmation has the capacity to heal the wounds of inadequacy from which so many of us suffer. It communicates acceptability and lovableness. It lifts us up, and helps us feel better about ourselves. However, the power of affirmation is not limited to the recipient only. The person making the affirmation is also transformed.…
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