Online marriage prep meets couples where they are

By Margaret Malsam

Engaged couples desiring a Catholic wedding find it very difficult many times to attend the required marriage prep classes.

“The fact is, many couples today are separated by hundreds or thousands of miles until they are married, and there are other factors that make it impossible for some couples to attend classes and weekend retreats,” points out Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan.

Now there is another option: taking Catholic Marriage Preparation Inc. online. Christian and Christine Meert, who direct the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Diocese of Colorado Springs, developed this comprehensive online course deeply rooted in Scripture and Pope John Paul’s teaching on sexuality, marriage and family life.
The Meerts, who have been married 30 years, have five children and six grandchildren. They started teaching live marriage prep classes in 1999 and continue to offer these courses. Couples come to marriage prep eager to learn “magic” communication skills that will safeguard their marriage from divorce, report the couple. The Meerts tell the couples that communication skills are important but they are useless if the couple is not Christ-centered. Marriage is under attack these days. Family values are crumbling. The goal of the marriage preparation classes is to help couples build their marriages on the true and solid foundations of Christ and His Church, explain the Meerts.

The online classes follow the same format as the live classes the Meerts teach for the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Colorado Springs. Couples are challenged to discuss issues such as sex, contraception, children, drugs, finances, extended family, religious beliefs, prayer, and communication skills. After each class, couples are asked to write a secret love letter to each other about what they have learned that might impact their relationship. These love letters may be shared after they finish the course or on their honeymoon. The couples also answer prepared questions and share their discussions via email so that the Meerts can assess them and offer feedback.
Since adding the online instruction component to their live marriage prep classes, the couple has instructed over 1,300 engaged couples. Couples have told the Meerts how they appreciated learning about the expectations and requirements of a Catholic marriage. Couples relate how these classes ignited and revived their Catholic faith and how it helped them in their pre-nuptial relationships and marriages.

“It caused a lot of discussion between Wendy and me as well as probably more introspection than would have been gained in a standard course,” reported a couple from Texas.

“These classes brought us closer together as a couple, and to God. With both of us being in the Navy, it is easy to ignore God and his plan for us. We get caught up in daily life and taking these classes has helped us to stay focused on Him,” explained a couple from Washington state.

A couple now living in California shared how the classes ignited their faith and helped to explain the Catholic religion in clear, understandable language to the non-Catholic partner. “We already make it priority to go to church each weekend. This course opened our eyes a little more for the home prayer aspect and just how much we can really get in better touch with God. Our overall appreciation of the class is indescribable!”

Another couple commented: “Probably the most important thing that we appreciated was the involvement. We had to dedicate our time to stop what we were doing and discipline ourselves to take care of this class. These classes really put the importance of marriage in perspective. It shouldn’t be something that couples do casually and without thought.”

An Alabama couple said, “It renewed our desire by showing us more ways to bring God into our lives and how God will be in our lives together while raising our family.”

Both the online and live marriage prep curriculums are officially endorsed for engaged couples in the Denver and Colorado Springs dioceses. The cost is $150 per couple online and $180 per couple live. Classes cover steps one and three of the requirements in Denver. For more information, log onto www.catholicmarriagepreponline.com or call 1-866-425-7193.