Do you have a loving marriage but desire to deepen your relationship with your spouse and God?
Are you frustrated that despite your shared faith you still argue about important issues?
Do you long to pray with your spouse but don’t know where to start?
Our Catholic faith tells us that God created us to love and be loved. In marriage the love a couple has for each other becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love of God (CCC 1604). We are all called to a life of holiness. We are all called to be expressions of God’s love in the world. If you are married this journey towards sanctity is meant to be achieved within your relationship.
Admittedly, the image of God’s love is not an easy one to live up to. Acquiring the virtues and skills necessary for a happy and holy marriage requires work (accompanied by a lot of grace, of course!) The book and workbook To Know, Love and Serve: A Path to Marital Fulfilment were created to assist Catholic couples in working towards this lofty goal.
Through prayer, reflection on Scripture verses and passages from Pope Emeritus Benedict’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is love), discussion, and activities To Know, Love and Serve: A Path to Marital Fulfilment Can help you:
Develop better communication skills
Foster greater understanding of each other
Improve problem solving abilities
Discuss issues important to healthy marriage
Deepen intimacy
Nurture a deeper spiritual life
To Know, Love and Serve: A Path to Marital Fulfilment follows an easy and practical format that will take you gradually through the steps necessary for attaining a relationship that is more pleasing to you, your spouse, and God.
The book & Workbook include the following topics:
Communication
Listening skills
Problem solving
Roles & expectations
Spirituality
Intimacy
Openness to life
Parenting (for those with or without children)
Finances
Planning for the future
While working through these topics you will also touch on the issues of family background, forgiveness, gratitude, and the covenant of marriage.
Many couples spend lots of time working on their homes, careers, and children, while forgetting to make their marriages a priority. It is our hope and prayer that this marriage enrichment book will give you an opportunity to look at different areas of your marriage, enjoy extra time together, learn something new about each other, and learn some new skills that will help you in attaining the sanctity God wants you to have in your marriage.
We are Melissa Guzik & Jean MacKenzie, Registered Psychologists, who have experience working with couples in all stages of their relationship and we are both blessed with marriages where we experience the daily struggles of living out our vocation. Melissa has been married since 2002 and has four children, and Jean has been married since 2001 and has seven children. We have created this book and workbook based not only on our professional lives in working with couples to enhance and save their marriages, but also from our experiences with our husbands, children, and faith journeys. We are both Catholic women who have found much joy and satisfaction in applying the freeing truths of the Catholic Church to our marriages. It is our hope that through this book, you will experience or renew this same freedom and strength in your marriage.