Top 3
Expectations
CJ and Christina - Diocese of Sioux City, IA
His impression of the prep: The course was very thorough and had great substance. I enjoyed the answer keys and the in-depth explanations that were provided from our instructors. I feel that each lesson was a great source of discussion and helped us to go beyond the surface and really dig in to what it means to be a man and to be husband and father. My feeling is that due to this course I am better prepared to fulfill my duties and obligations of marriage
Her impression of the prep: I was a little hesitant at first but as we got into the course, I could see how beneficial this was going to be. It stimulated great conversations that continued for days after completion. Sometimes it seems that as Catholics, we get a pie in the sky version of marriage but miss the mark on practicality. This course filled in the gaps.
Did it meet his expectations: Definitely! The videos and footnotes and encouragement to read more were great! I felt/feel challenged to be a holy husband and father who is striving to lead his family to Heaven.
Did it meet her expectations: It exceeded my expectations! I really enjoyed this course and I love my fiancé even more because I feel like I know him better.
Gilbert and Estefania – Diocese of Lubbock TX
His impression of the prep: I definitely learned a lot more than what I thought I was. I did not expect for the tremendous amount of feedback and how much detail and sources we received. I can't really say what I expected but the course definitely excelled my expectations. It made me think about my role and see how important that role is in my future marriage and faith.
Her impression of the prep: We both agreed that the course excelled our expectations. I learned so much and took much of the feedback into consideration. There were things that I had not thought about or had taken into consideration. We had conversations that we had not had before or had considered before and it was very refreshing.
Did it meet his expectations: Yes!
Did it meet her expectations: Yes!
Corey and Hallie – Diocese of Lansing,MI
His impression of the prep: It was really cool to dive deeper into the Catholic faith because I'm not Catholic myself. This has been a huge learning tool about what Hallie and I want our kids to grow up learning.
Her impression of the prep: This class taught us so much as a couple in my opinion. Of course, I am Catholic so I can tell Corey about the Catholic faith and what I believe in, but getting the opportunity for him to actually see the "why behind it all" was great. I think this allowed him to truly understand why I am Catholic and why I believe in the things that I do and we are excited to start our family and continue to teach them and learn about the Catholic faith.
Did it meet his expectations: I would say it exceeded expectations. A lot of the time, online classes can be hard to focus on, but there was so much good information throughout this course, we stayed on track pretty easily.
Did it meet her expectations: Absolutely, I even learned new things in different areas, so I would say it did more than meet the expectations.
Top 3
Parish Life
Fitzgerald and Monica – Archdiocese of Edmonton, AB
Impacted his Faith: It touched upon what it means to be a good catholic and explained why it is important to our self and our significant other.
Impacted her Faith: It gave me a better understanding of my goal to bring my partner to heaven, to be better person and partner and hopefully a good example to my future kids. It also made me realize how important it is to put God at the center of your marriage.
His parish life plan: Attending mass as a family and praying as a couple.
Her parish life plan: Attending church, setting time for praying, being an active participant at church, fundraising activities etc.
Eugene and Lauren – Diocese of Arlington, VA
Impacted his Faith: Definitely revived. It was a great way for Lauren and I to connect spiritually and sort of got me backin the groove after a challenging couple of years with moving to a new state, police academy, new job (working weekends and Sundays), and all the other challenges this past year. I felt my spiritual life had gotten a bit stale and this combined with our meetings with our presiding pastor (my family's priest from back in VA) has been excellent.
Impacted her Faith: It was really the first time I've put intentional thought into Catholicism since CCD (outside of attending mass and other standard activities), so it felt long overdue! I enjoyed taking the time to learn, think things through, and adjust some of the impressions I had.
His parish life plan: Continue attending Mass, get more involved with our local parish. I would also like to have a more personal relationship with our local priest. I always liked how my family would have the priest over for supper, etc.
Her parish life plan: Continuing to attend church regularly. Identifying more volunteer opportunities through the church.
Cade and Audrey – Diocese of Lubbock, TX
Impacted his Faith: Being a new member of the Church, I loved learning more about my faith, and this class has taught me a lot about the vocation of marriage and made me excited to pursue more knowledge.
Impacted her Faith: This course started some really great discussions between Cade and I, which made both of us feel closer to each other and God. Learning more about our future marriage excited me and made me feel so grateful for what God has planned for us.
His parish life plan: As of now I am a college student, but I plan to join the Knights of Columbus and be an active member after graduation.
Her parish life plan: I plan to attend women's bible studies and volunteer for the church's needs.
Top 3
Communication and Comments
Edem and Chantal – Diocese of Atlanta, GA
How did it better your commutation:This marriage prep class was able to help us understand that we can really talk to each other when thing are really causing us issues. When we were able to discuss thing that would become a problem for us, we both open up and had really good conversation about things that were really important to us that have been stressing us out but we did not talk about it. It has also created a safe space where we find truth, love and trust in each even more now than when we started the class
Appreciated most by him: I appreciated most the comments and helpful passage that were given from our instructors, because everything together helps us to understand on a different level.
Appreciated most by her: I mostly appreciated all the example and reference link and book mention because, I have been looking online a lot on books that can be helpful to us and with this class I have a better idea of where we need to go from here.
Parker and Ashley – Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA
How did it better your commutation: It allowed us to think of topics we may not have discussed before and allowed us to have even better stronger discussions on various topics.
Appreciated most by him: The thorough response and quick reviews of our instructors getting it back to us.
Appreciated most by her: I appreciated the detailed responses from our teachers and how they explained things that we may not have understood and they explained it in a manner that made it relatable and easy to understand and also their quick reviews of our answers.
Jacob and Maria – Diocese of Richmond, VA
How did it better your commutation: It improved our communication by allowing us to deliberately think through and discuss what it is we believe and what our expectations are. Specifically, it encouraged us to further pursue a prayer life together.
Appreciated most by him: The fact that by working together we got to know one another better on a faith level, seeing exactly where we stood on certain things and how much we agreed with one another. It spurred conversations we likely wouldn't have had for some time.
Appreciated most by her: The closeness I feel in both my relationship with God and with Jacob. I appreciate that you can read a familiar verse or consider familiar tenants b7ut gain new insight or understanding surrounding them. It has been really moving to get to know God all the more and to love Him more.
