The Seven Percent

 This is part One of a four-part mini-series on How to have a Happy Marriage: A Catholic Sacramental Point of View.This talk begins with some hard data on happiness. It looks at an ongoing study that is 84 years old. It started in 1934 and followed 724 young men from 1934 until today. The study includes their spouses and descendants. Next, the talk presents a framework for categorizing marriages from unhappy to extremely happy. The talk then delves into the structure and patterns of unhappy marriages: Shipwrecked Marriages.For the married: where does your marriage fit in that continuum and what could you do to improve it? For the unmarried: what could you do now to prepare yourself for marriage? 

This is the second talk on "How to have a Happy Marriage: A Catholic Sacramental Point of View". This talk covers three points: it explores conventional marriages, their characteristics, and their properties. We explain why this type of marriage benefits from moderate longevity and happiness. Lastly, we cover the critical concept of marital imperative and describe the eight fruits of that imperative that give exceptional marriages their longevity and happiness. 

This is the third talk in the series "How to have a Happy Marriage: A Catholic Sacramental Point of View" This episode examines the seven percent of couples who exhibit exceptional longevity, resilience, joy, and abiding happiness. We take a closer look at these couples to understand their key characteristics and the reason why they are able to live their marital life to the fullest. 

 This is part four of the miniseries "How to have a Happy Marriage: A Catholic Sacramental Point of View." This talk explores the premise and conditions of the validity of a sacramental union. It goes over the teachings of the Church by quoting from the dogmas on marriage and passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This talk serves as a foundation for the fifth and last talk in the series where we bring together happiness in marriage with the sacramentality of Christian marriages. 

In this talk, we conclude the series by considering the aspects of a Catholic Marriage that take us beyond earthly happiness. We cover the practical differences between a Catholic sacramental marriage and a secular union. Link to the presentation right here