Pope Francis said “superficial” marriage preparation programs leave many couples at risk of having invalid marriages or unprepared to cope with the struggles that arise in every marriage.

The joy of marriage is getting overshadowed by the pressure for increasingly expensive and elaborate weddings. Parish priest could gently remind couples that it does not have to be this way.

Father Joshua Whitfield on his vocation as a husband, father and priest, and why most Catholic homilies are just plain awful.

A Reflection for the Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent, by Valerie Schultz

Paul and Maureen Moses run a weekend retreat that fulfills the infamous “marriage prep” part of getting married in the Catholic Church. And it’s wonderful.

The truth is that there was nothing wrong with my first wife when we got married. And there was nothing wrong with me. I don’t need to offer up witnesses, and my privacy, to prove otherwise.