How to fall in love…again

love-couple

We recently had the joy of attending a presentation by Mike and Alicia Hernon from The Messy Family Project. Among the many pearls of wisdom was the reminder that ‘faking it till we make it’ was a legitimate strategy for strengthening our marriage and ‘falling in love’ with each other again. Mike and Alicia pointed…

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The BS Detector

Mind Over Matter ‘Mind Reading’ is one of those clairvoyant arts that seems to elude us when it comes to marriage. Too often we make the mistake of assuming that our spouse knows what we need without communicating clearly about it. How many times have we, or our spouse, declared in exasperation to the injured…

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The Language of Love

The Language of Love

A sacrament makes visible in a human way something that is invisible or spiritual. In other words, a sacrament images and reveals the mystery of God. Every sacrament has two key aspects which make the sacrament visible: words and gesture. In marriage, the sacramental words are the wedding vows, in effect “I freely give myself…

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Gender Bias in Intimacy

Making sense of intimacy differences

While almost everyone acknowledges that men and women are different, managing these differences is not so easy, especially in the area of intimacy. A woman’s preferred way of achieving intimacy is deep personal conversation, talking and sharing feelings, that is, verbal language.  A man’s preferred way of achieving intimacy is physical bonding, touch and love…

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Cohabitation

Making Sense of Cohabitation|

Making Sense of Cohabitation Catholic marriage is a freely given, total, unconditional commitment, faithful and open to children. The wedding vows express this explicit commitment in words. What many don’t appreciate is that the words of the vows are expressed and renewed through the body language of sexual intercourse. Every time a couple make love,…

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Body Language

Sacred Body Language

Pope John Paul II called marital sex a sacred body language, an act that communicated the total self-giving of husband to wife and wife to husband. This sacred meaning of sexual intercourse is built into the act itself and cannot be simply discarded or altered. The message of sex: “I give myself to you, freely,…

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For Engaged Couples – The Message of Intercourse

When a couple wants to give themselves completely to one another, nakedness communicates that kind of extraordinary generosity and openness. It says: “I give you my whole self and I accept you in full knowledge of who you are”. Once you are ready to say: “I love you permanently and totally”, it is natural to…

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