Top 3 Expectations
Walter and Brie – Diocese of Phoenix, AZ
His impression of the prep: We appreciated every aspect of this class. It really did exceed our expectations. We were expecting to have to learn most of these things on our own, but this course was a good surprise. Our instructors provided wonderful feedback and responses to our answers which in turn facilitated many conversations between my fiancé and myself.
Her impression of the prep: I really cannot say enough about this class! I feel so grateful to the Lord to have received the support and accompaniment that we have had with our instructors. I am so grateful that our preparation was extended over these few months and not just crammed into a one day Saturday class. I thank our instructors for all of your wisdom, advice and real-life stories. They fill me with such hope and confidence in the Lord’s careful loving design for marriage and family life. I feel better prepared in understanding the gravity of the Sacrament, particularly going through the vows. I loved the wide-scope of this class and that it covered really the gamut of marriage and family life. I have a deeper appreciation for the weight and beauty of the Sacrament and that Jesus is the center. I have nothing to fear with the Lord at the center and His grace is in fact sufficient for Walter and me. I really cannot thank our instructors enough. This class has been a great gift to Walter and me. Please pray for us!
Did it meet his expectations: This class exceeded my expectations. It was much more thorough than I expected. Honestly, I wasn't sure how much this class would do for decently well-formed Catholics, but it ended up being a pleasant review and opportunity to learn some new things.
Did it meet her expectations: This class definitely exceeded my expectations. Initially, I was very disappointed when I realized Walter and I would have to go through marriage prep long-distance and we wouldn’t be able to attend any of the “normal” diocesan classes. I now see that the Lord lovingly re-routed us to give us, what I believe, was more and what we needed. I felt very accompanied by our instructors. This support means so much. I also appreciated each topic and the depth we went into across the board. One of my favorite sections was on Genesis and the Bible study we got to go through together. I also loved learning more about the marriage rite, and some of our instructor’s real-life examples of God’s provision, love, and mercy. Another note, I appreciated that there was no shying away from the truth, beauty and goodness of God’s Church. At times, I thought about how I would feel going through this class as kind of a non-practicing, disengaged Catholic and I think the course material is convincing and I pray the Lord uses it for conversions happen through this course!
Mikhail and Maureen – Diocese of Sacramento, CA
His impression of the prep: The class was very insightful. I've learned a lot about marriage and how it relates to God and the bible. I have a greater understanding of what it means to be married and the importance of God in our marriage.
Her impression of the prep: This class really helped us understand what the sacrament of holy matrimony means and how sacred marriage is. I enjoyed how the questions really got us to think, how it broke down the scripture for us to learn and understand. I also really appreciate our instructors. Their reviews were very helpful and informative, and encouraging.
Did it meet his expectations: This course exceeded my expectations. I only thought this course was going to tell us the rules of getting married in the catholic church. But it gave me a greater understanding of what our marriage is and how God is with us during our marriage.
Did it meet her expectations: Yes. I expected to learn more about the sacrament of holy matrimony, and what it means to be married in the Catholic church. I was also looking forward to learning from our instructors and they did an excellent job reviewing our answers and providing us feedback.
Norman and Theresa – Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada
His impression of the prep: The class was very insightful, the topics and Christ in the family raised my awareness that marriage is more than just loving a person and raising a family. It was nice to reading the lecturers use their personal life experiences as part of the lessons.
Her impression of the prep: The course was great! It was very educational and it had so many great videos and explanation resources. The lessons and topics created a lot of interesting and helpful discussions. And having personal responses from our mentors were helpful to understand the lessons even more.
Did it meet his expectations: Yes. It was more than what I had expected!
Did it meet her expectations: Yes! and more.
Top 3
Parish Life
Devin and Jess – Diocese of Sioux City, IA
Impacted his Faith: This course just made me want to be even closer to God. Especially in my marriage, if I can be a Man of God, I know our relationship will always flourish because God is in control and will protect us and our hearts.
Impacted her Faith: It definitely made me realize how much more we can be doing as followers of Christ and made me want to be even more involved in our Church and my daily prayer life has definitely improved.
His parish life plan: Attending church every Sunday, making time for parish related actives and actively donating to the Church
Her parish life plan: Continuing to attend mass, working with the leaders of the parish to maintain the church.
Miguel and Estefania – Diocese of Oakland, CA
Impacted his Faith: I believe that it clearly revived and renewed my inspiration to look more for God and be thankful for the things that he was able to do with me. Especially with reading more about the scriptures, it was a refresher in my brain to get closer to my faith.
Impacted her Faith: Yes, this definitely revived and renewed my desire to get closer to God, because of certain circumstances in my life I felt like I was slowly drifting away from the Church. But after this course, I feel more motivated and happier about my faith and my relationship with God.
His parish life plan: Some of the ways I would plan on participating activity in parish life is to trying my best to participate, attend Sunday Mass, and volunteer alongside my wife.
Her parish life plan: The way in which I plan to participate more in the parish life besides attending Sunday mass, is to get involved in volunteering, making conversation with our parish staff and ministry leaders. Also by making sure that we are contributing to our parish as we have learned the greater benefit of it.
Nicholas and Sanna (Interfaith) – Diocese of Fairbanks, AK
Impacted his Faith: I would say it confirmed my desire to grow my faith and that it is absolutely necessary to have a happy, healthy, and holy marriage.
Impacted her Faith: It revived my faith in that I need to focus on sharing it more. I am very much a private and keep to myself person, and it is hard for me to connect, especially about serious and personal things.
His parish life plan: I want to participate in parish life by volunteering at the soup kitchen and doing readings at mass.
Her parish life plan: I plan on continuing to attend my current Church, as well as Mass. I will follow Nick's lead on involvement in the Parish, although I don't know what I am allowed to help with but am willing to learn. I will still help with things at my church too.
Top 3
Communication and Comments
Angel and Diana – Archdiocese of Denver, CO
How did it better your commutation: The conversations sparked through the completion of the courses kicked off a more meaningful way for us to converse and be open. We are more mindful of each other's spiritual and physical needs. We understand that in talking about spiritual needs, we can better understand that the physical will come as a fantastic celebration after our marriage.
Appreciated most by him: The constructive feedback is what I appreciated the most. Before starting, I expected "cookie cutter" responses, but the instructors provided a great deal of feedback that truly made this an excellent learning experience.
Appreciated most by her: Aside from the feedback, I loved writing love letters after a few chapters, so romantic.
Ryan and Zoie – Archdiocese for the Military Services
How did it better your commutation: We were able to open up more to each other about our thoughts and feelings. This opened our eyes to the future obstacles we will face together as a married couple and we have sat down and talked about ways we can get around them as well.
Appreciated most by him: I appreciated the fact that there was genuine feedback with more articles and links for us to go more in depth with.
Appreciated most by her: I appreciated the feedback from our instructors and I really enjoyed reading the articles and watching the videos throughout the course.
Will and Maddie – Diocese of Boise, ID
How did it better your commutation: We are able to think about our communication skills more and more and help us to control and regulate our emotions and feelings. It allows us to open up to each other and trust each other more.
Appreciated most by him: I appreciated the realness our instructors and the variety of topics that were covered.
Appreciated most by her: I appreciated the conversations that were brought about between me and my fiancé because of this course. I feel like we have grown a lot and learned more about each other.
