Married Life Workshop:
Preparing to Share a Lifetime of Sacramental Graces
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here is no moment in life quite like planning a wedding. Engagement brings a great mix of excitement, stress, and busy schedules. A wedding is an important and beautiful part of a marriage, but it’s only the beginning. Marriage itself is filled with seasons of joy and seasons of suffering. Cathedral of Christ the King offers a marriage preparation program that supports healthy marriage for a lifetime. Micah Johnson and his wife, Allison, help present the Married Life Workshop, one of the three parts of marriage preparation at the Cathedral. “Jesus raised marriage to a sacrament,” Micah says. “If couples are married in the Church, they receive many sacramental graces.” The graces received through the Sacrament of Matrimony carry a married couple through the trials that come in life, strengthening their relationship with one another and with Christ. Through the Married Life Workshop, Micah and Allison and other married couples share their experiences with engaged couples during a Saturday session. “Marriage prep makes you talk about some of those things that maybe you haven’t talked about in the past,” Micah says. “Maybe you assumed something. Maybe you haven’t dealt with conflict yet or dealt with it well. Each couple brings their past and stories of how things went.” Micah often shares his experience learning to resolve conflict well. It was a skill he had to learn in his marriage and he realized that his upbringing hadn’t prepared him to handle conflict in a healthy way. While Micah learned these skills along the way, he hopes that he can pass on some wisdom to new couples so that they can be more prepared as they enter into marriage. For a busy, engaged couple, Micah knows that praying together might be something they find difficult to do. In the Married Life Workshop, he and Allison talk about some simple ways to
Micah and Allison Johnson with their sons, Wyatt and Elijah
incorporate prayer into their daily life together. “I don’t think couples are taught how to pray together very well,” Micah says. “We end our presentation with a model of how we pray together. Maybe you don’t have a vibrant prayer life, so here’s an easy way to start praying together.” Micah and Allison have been married for 10 years and have two boys, Elijah and Wyatt. Micah has found that preparing for the workshop is a good exercise for himself. continued on back cover
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