The Changing Face of Marriage

Faith is something that has always been a huge part of my life at home.  My parents are both very devoted to their faith, and they both work hard to make faith a priority in our lives.  I have gone to Catholic school for my entire life and I feel that it has really made a difference in my life.  The "domestic church" that is present in my life has helped me to realize what values are important to me and to think about how I want to spend the rest of my life.  In the future, I think that I will establish a "domestic church" in my home because of the positive impact that it has had on my life so far.  Faith is something that I could not live without and it has been what has gotten me through difficult times.  I want my own children to have a strong faith so that they too can have strong values and a relationship with God.  The study done about education and successful marriages makes sense.  The more educated people are, the less likely they are to have financial issues or difficulty finding a job, which can be detrimental to successful relationships.  I also feel that the more educated you are, the more you know yourself and what kind of person you are looking for in a relationship.  

Dating and Marriage

After reading the two articles about marriage, I feel that personally I want to marry someone who I share values with, but who also introduces me to new things and, as the NY Times article said, "makes life more interesting".  My values are extremely important to me, and I would definitely want to be with someone who completely respected them.  However, I think that in order for a marriage to last, both people need to be able to teach each other new things and help each other to grow as people.  This view combines modern society with Christian values.  I also agree with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops article which stated the communication, commitment, common values, and faith are essential for a successful marriage.  These are all so important to lasting relationships, and I feel that combined with the ideas from modern society will result in a happy, meaningful, long lasting relationship.