Planning a wedding in a year’s time? Search no further!
Join us at St. Joseph’s Parish at Highland Creek for our marriage preparation program. Learn more about the Catholic teachings on marriage with our seasoned team of marriage course facilitators. Explore with other marriage preparation participants important topics such as faith, family, communication skills, finance-management, and goal-building using the rich resources from the Joy-Filled Marriage course. The 6 weekly sessions fulfill the marriage preparation course required to be married in the Catholic Church.
Wednesdays 7:00 – 9:30 pm from October 2, 2024 to November 6, 2024
For more details or to register, call the Parish Office at 416-282-0370 or email stjosephsSC@archtoronto.org
St. Joseph’s Parish, Highland Creek Scarborough – 200 Morrish Road, Scarborough, M1C 1E8
What Is the JOY-FILLED MARRIAGE Program?
Helping prepare engaged couples to embrace God’s plan for the sacrament of matrimony is an honor and a privilege. In today’s climate, it is also a challenge. Joy-Filled Marriage is a marriage preparation program designed to meet that challenge. The two components of the program—Life Skills for Couples and God’s Plan for Love—incorporate rich Catholic theology with sound psychology. This program offers a comprehensive approach to marriage preparation that covers not only the sacramentality and theology of marriage but also the practical life skills necessary to live out the rich Catholic vision of marriage.
Life Skills for Couples is the “life skills” component of the program. A virtue-based program, Life Skills for
Couples is designed to help the engaged couple set patterns of thought and behavior that will ensure a lifelong marriage. Life Skills for Couples trains couples in living the key virtues that foster lifelong marital love. Springing from the call of St. John Paul II to families and couples, Life Skills for Couples invites couples to explore their own uniqueness by seeking their identity and mission in Christ.
HIGHLIGHTS OF LIFE SKILLS FOR COUPLES
It is highly interactive. Engaging the couples in a variety of ways, the program calls them to be actively involved and uses effective learning approaches to reinforce the material.
It is presented by witness couples—ordinary married couples who share the virtues needed for marriage through the lens of their real-life experiences of marriage.
It is based on the virtues that affect every aspect of marriage—faith, hope, love, fairness (justice), balance (temperance), discernment (prudence), and perseverance (fortitude).
It is presented by witness couples—ordinary married couples who share the virtues needed for marriage through the lens of their real-life experiences of marriage.
It is based on the virtues that affect every aspect of marriage—faith, hope, love, fairness (justice), balance (temperance), discernment (prudence), and perseverance (fortitude).
THE SIX SESSIONS
Session One: God’s Plan for Marriage “in the Beginning”
Session Two: Christ Restores God’s Plan for Marriage
Session Three: To What Are You Saying, “I Do”?
Session Four: Where the Words of Your Vows Become Flesh
Session Five: The Beauty of Openness to Life
Session Six: Living God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage
Each couple receives a practical Couple’s Journal, which is tied to both God’s Plan for Love and Life Skills for Couples. In this journal, they capture their priorities, set concrete goals, and identify the next steps for building a joy-filled marriage. By the end of the program, the couples have a concrete post-workshop marriage plan and mission!
Session Two: Christ Restores God’s Plan for Marriage
Session Three: To What Are You Saying, “I Do”?
Session Four: Where the Words of Your Vows Become Flesh
Session Five: The Beauty of Openness to Life
Session Six: Living God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage
Each couple receives a practical Couple’s Journal, which is tied to both God’s Plan for Love and Life Skills for Couples. In this journal, they capture their priorities, set concrete goals, and identify the next steps for building a joy-filled marriage. By the end of the program, the couples have a concrete post-workshop marriage plan and mission!
Life-Changing Results
This program is the first that I have heard that offered candid and logically sound discussions about Catholic teaching on sex and marriage. I am truly appreciative
Couples all across the country are responding favorably to the program, including the challenging catechesis found in the God’s Plan portion of the program. Consider these statistics based on surveys of 3,000 couples from 2015 to 2017:
• Ninety-four percent of couples had an improved knowledge of the Church’s teaching on marriage.
• Ninety-seven percent felt the program improved their relationship with God.
• Of the couples who had planned to use contraception before entering the program, twenty-four percent changed their minds and decided they would like to use Natural Family Planning.
• Of the sexually active couples entering the program, twenty percent decided to reserve sexual intimacy until their marriage.
• Ninety-four percent of couples had an improved knowledge of the Church’s teaching on marriage.
• Ninety-seven percent felt the program improved their relationship with God.
• Of the couples who had planned to use contraception before entering the program, twenty-four percent changed their minds and decided they would like to use Natural Family Planning.
• Of the sexually active couples entering the program, twenty percent decided to reserve sexual intimacy until their marriage.