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Are you looking for more structure and discipline in your prayer life? Would you like to improve concentration by reflecting on your meditation sessions? Do you want to monitor your meditation practice and personal growth over time? Is it your desire to gain insights into your thoughts, emotions, and experiences? This book may be just what you're looking for!

I am not a poet, but during my prayer today, the Holy Spirit gave me words of my own to complete the melody of a song that kept repeating in the background of my mind after I awoke: Tapestry by Carole King. I hope these words from God bring you as much consolation and joy as they have for me! God bless!

Tony and Charisse Rubio, of the Greater Cincinnati area, bring a lifetime of experience to the service of the family through their ministry called Our Domestic Church. CLICK TITLE to read the "RC Impact" story...

Graduate thesis showing that Vatican II set in motion new directions which enabled subsequent Church teaching to regard the family as a Domestic Church. In addition to covering its history, normative definitions of key terms and highlights of the most notable new directions are provided. CLICK TITLE to download and read paper.

It is the biggest decision in the life of the person who makes this decision: marriage. Who to marry…when to marry…where to...

Imagine if we applied the principle "no pain, no gain" to the most important relationships in our lives. They are worth fighting for! From FORMED.ORG - "Beloved 1 - Mystery & Meaning of Marriage" (2:24 Video)

The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. Not everyone goes through all of them or in a prescribed order. At times, people in grief will...

This information is offered to help those who seek a better understanding about the grounds used to declare marriage null.  Canon law is provided along with commentary explanation for each of the seven grounds...

An annulment is an official Church declaration that marriage no longer binds the couple spiritually. This is purely a religious matter and has no civil effects in the United States. If granted, an annulment states that the marriage never had all the essential elements...

A marital impediment is something that separates a couple -- or better put, it causes them to be unable to be joined. The Church, as expressed in its Canon Law, teaches that there are twelve such impediments to a Sacrament of Marriage. Of these impediments...

Have the courage to be afraid. Stop trying to think out a solution for the moment:  there isn't one.  One day there may be;  God will then show it to you.  In the meantime, accept it all and offer that to God, because...

Discover the meaning of God’s teaching on the necessity of unconditional forgiveness (mercy) as well as how there can be justice in forgiving even someone who isn’t sorry for the harm or evil done. Being open to forgiveness is an act of mercy that involves a choice by the offended person, while reconciliation is an act of justice involving both...

This book contains a pastoral letter from the USCCB which is primarily addressed to the Catholic faithful in the US, who are called to oppose the cultural attacks on marriage and to defend the “meaning, dignity, and sanctity of marriage and the family.” However, this message is offered to everyone, regardless of their faith, “in the hope of...

"Amoris Laetitia: On Love in the Family" is the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis offering pastoral guidance to help families grow together in their faith and to encourage them in the face of mounting challenges. It is directed primarily to those engaged in family apostolate and to families themselves, with a recommendation that each part be “read patiently and carefully."  Because of all the media attention to the controversial sections of the eighth chapter, many people think this document is limited to only issues about divorce, remarriage, and discerning “irregular” situations.  Focusing on this controversy detracts from the beautiful message of fidelity to the “Gospel of the family” this document contains.  Here I summarize chapter four, “Love in Marriage,” which discusses the transformation of love, using Saint Paul’s famous passage about love from 1 Cor 13:4-7.  (Click heading to read more)

This book contains the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis offering pastoral guidance to help families grow together in their faith and to encourage them in the face of mounting challenges. It offers insights from the two-year process of the Synod on The Family. Directed primarily to those engaged in family apostolate and to families themselves...

The primary audience for this book is the lay faithful who are seeking sound approaches for strengthening families and renewing the Church in the face of attacks against both by present-day culture. Pastors, lay pastoral ministers, and theologians will also find this book filled with...

Here are some signs to watch for if you think you or a friend may be in psychologically abusive relationship...

Pope Francis end his Apostolic Exhortation emploring all to strive "towards something greater than ourselves and our families, and every family must feel this constant impulse. Let us make this journey as families, let us keep walking together. What we have been promised is greater than we can imagine. May we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us." And he ends with a Prayer to the Holy Family. (Click header for this prayer)

The eyes of the Church are turned toward helping marriages and families. The face of God is turned toward our greatest needs for healing and holiness. Family life is a holy privilege that requires ... (Click heading to read more)

Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth, MI, hosted a five-week program in 2015 to look at the biblical vision of marriage and family. Pastor, Fr. John Riccardo and Deacon Jonathan Fasnacht discusses various aspects of marriage and family. (Click heading for links to each of the five podcosts)