Loving for a Lifetime: The Six Secrets of a Happy, Healthy and Holy Mature Marriage. Is a six session video series by Dr. Richard P. Johnson which can be used as marriage preparation and/or marriage enrichment for maturing adults. Dr. Johnson also has a similarly titled book: Loving for a Lifetime: 6 Essentials for a […]
Lord Jesus, you promised, “Behold I make all things new.” Renew us in mind and body. Help us to use our years of experience by sharing our wisdom with enthusiasm and imagination. Expand our concerns that we might be ever more creative in helping others, especially younger people, who may be looking for guidance and […]
Richard P. Johnson Our Church is aging. We are in the first act of a historical drama that is destined to transform our culture and Church in ways we have yet to imagine. The number and percentage of elders occupying our parish pews increases weekly. This phenomenon will continue for at least the next 25 […]
Gary and Kay Aitchison We have been grandparents for 18 years, and during that time we have observed a tremendous accumulation of stresses in the families of our children and our friends’ children. As we all know, society has placed nearly super-human demands on today’s families. Many parents are struggling to succeed in the multi-arena […]
Blessings of Age, is a Pastoral Message on Growing Older within the Faith Community. It is addressed to Older Persons, Caregivers, Pastors, Pastoral Staff, and Parishioners. Following is an excerpt from the final section addressed to Pastors and Pastoral Staff. Because parishes differ in their particular needs and resources, we offer a few foundational principles […]
By Ken Bomar As the baby boom generation ages, our communities and local Churches will encounter unprecedented needs related to older persons. By 2030, the U.S. population 65 and older will double to about 71 million older adults, or one in every five Americans. Catholic teaching on the dignity of the human person calls us […]
By Elizabeth Einstein, MA/LMFT 1. Understand two critical realities. Making a stepfamily work well is a process. It also takes time. 2. Take time to live alone as a single after divorce or the death of a partner. Develop and maintain a solid network of family and friends. Start school, move into a new job, […]
By John S. Grabowski, Ph.D. The issue of divorce and remarriage has a long and somewhat complicated history in the Bible. Deuteronomy 24: 1-4 allows a man to divorce his wife if he “finds in her something indecent” (Dt. 24: 1c). Some of the prophets linked this open-ended permission to infidelity in marriage (e.g., Hos. […]
By Rose Sweet Jesus fell three times. That’s how a lot of divorced Catholics feel as they trudge uphill through battles of loss, anger, depression, loneliness, court battles, custody arrangements, and more. Their road is long and it seems whenever they get ahead, the weight of their cross drives them back down. It’s vital for […]
By Regina Staloch Editor’s Note: Family ministers exert great effort to support marriage and save couples from the pain of divorce. Regretfully, neither we, nor the couples we serve, are perfect and thus we are not always successful. Because of this, family ministers are also about supporting men and women who experience divorce. It is […]