Steve and Bridget Patton
hold master's degrees in theology and counseling and serve as family life ministers for the Diocese of Sacramento.
Marriage Matters
A Bride and Groom – The Bride and The Groom
When the authors of the Old Testament wanted to express the faithful, life-giving, and intense love of God for the world, they rather naturally turned to the trope of marriage.
Communicating God’s love through your marriage
We need marriage. So does our Church and our world.
Living marriage as a sacrament
When a couple consciously and daily lives their marriage as a sacrament, they open themselves up to a happiness both natural and supernatural.
Our daughter and her husband are having a family crisis
Your tension is not about whether, but how much, help to give or, as you put it, it’s between “no matter what the cost” and “everything we reasonably can.”
He says: With the kids gone, it’s time to leave this big house and move into something smaller
The living space needs and preferences of a couple will naturally evolve over the course of their marriage and family life.
She says: I want to keep some of my mom’s special things
When you vowed at your wedding to remain faithful to one another “in sickness and in health,” the sickness part included that aching “soul sickness” of grief.
They say: We love each other and want to get married but we are almost 10 years apart in age
Let’s look first at your age difference and then at the pushback you’re getting from your family and friends.
She says: Sports and other activities are good for kids
Finding the right balance for children between family life and outside activities can be challenging.
He says: I am being offered a promotion at work
She says: I don’t want him to be gone all the time.
Trusting God and each other in adversity
When life doesn’t go according to plan, how can married couples be strong together in the face of adversity?
He says: Too much screen time since COVID!
She says: We are so busy working from home it’s the only way to get anything done.
She says: I think it’s cute our granddaughter tells me ‘secrets.’
He says: We should tell our daughter.
She says: We should speak to our daughter about the man she is thinking of marrying
Whether you should speak with your daughter depends upon her openness to listening.
He says: Our daughter and her husband need help watching their new baby
She says: I’d love to help but it’s too much
Our adult daughter stopped attending Mass
The deeper level of her underlying relationship with God is where you should focus your efforts, not at the mere surface level.
No babies or toddlers at the wedding?!
Couple says: We want our wedding to be disruption-free so we can focus on the grace of the sacrament.
“We both want to get back to the basics of loving communication”
Nurturing loving communication skills is important to any marriage, even if it’s doing OK.
He says: I feel like our marriage is falling apart.
By exchanging marital vows, a couple creates an unbreakable, lifelong bond.
He Says: I Don’t Want to Spend All My Free Time With This Couple
She says: It’s not like we have a ton of other friends.
He Says: We Love Each Other but Are So Different
The notion that “opposites attract” is a paradox.
He and She Say: We’re Dreading Going Home to Either of Our Families for the Holidays
Rejoice that you feel this discomfort; it’s a sign your marriage is healthy.
He Says: Now That We Can Gather Again as an Extended Family, I Want to Invite the Big Group for Thanksgiving.
This holiday season is a great opportunity to establish a new normal for your holiday traditions.
He says: I lost my job and have not been able to find another that pays me what I think I’m worth
Regardless of its pay, what kind of work would most interest you most and draw upon your talents?
She says: He wants to invest in cryptocurrency, but I feel it’s too risky
Your goal is to get on the right page.
She says: I thought he would stop playing video games after we got married
It’s not uncommon for engaged people to hope that “things will be different once we get married.”