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Review of Christian Married Life
Fr. Peter F. Ryan,
Associate Professor of Moral Theology
Mount St. Mary's Seminary
Emmitsburg, MD
For
several years I have been teaching a course on Marriage and Family to the deacon
class at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, and I have been on the lookout for a program
that I could recommend to these future priests in their work of preparing
couples for marriage.
It was difficult to find material that I could recommend without reservation. I
wanted a doctrinally and theologically sound program that emphasizes the
significance of marriage as a vocation, but also one that is psychologically
insightful and appealingly written. Much doctrinally and theologically sound
marriage prep material is too complex and technical for most couples, while much
of what I found to be pitched at the right level was not sound or failed to
provide an adequate understanding of marriage as a vocation.
I was therefore delighted when I came across the Christian Married Life
program. DiVietri and Bozza clearly understand marriage as a vocation, a
communion of persons open to the gift of life who are called to cooperate with
God. The authors also realize that most couples in our culture who are
preparing for marriage need to be re-evangelized, so they carefully place
marriage in the context of God's overall plan of salvation. For example, Living
Sacrament, which I used in class, is designed to elicit a response of faith from
couples and a desire to help each other and their children find eternal
happiness. In this volume as in the others, psychological insights complement
the presentation of Church teaching in a very appealing presentation.
I believe that even couples whose faith is very weak are likely to respond to
Bozza and DiVietri's approach. In short, Christian Married Life is a wonderful
program of marriage preparation; indeed, it is by far the best I have seen.
Peter F. Ryan, S.J.
Associate Professor of Moral Theology
Mount St. Mary's Seminary
Emmitsburg, MD
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Christian Married Life Series Page
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