Doug unpacks common reasons why people don’t go to therapy including the expense, and the time commitment. He explains how the time and money involved in a divorce far outweigh the time and cost of therapy. Doug shares 5 steps for bringing your spouse to therapy. Plus: The Friday Rant!   Resources:   Marriage Unhindered <a href="https://www.marriageunhindered.com/">https://www.marriageunhindered.com/</a>   Happy Marriage for Life <a href="https://www.happymarriageforlife.com/">https://www.happymarriageforlife.com/</a>   Catholic Therapists <a href="https://www.catholictherapists.com/">https://www.catholictherapists.com/</a>

Get Thee to Therapy

Doug reads a letter by Alice Von Hildebrand from her book: By Love Refined. In this letter, Alice discusses sexual intimacy in marriage and emphasizes how pleasure is the reward but not the intent. The intent is the union of souls which results in joy, transcending sexual pleasure. Doug unpacks the importance of emotional intimacy coming before physical intimacy in marriage   Resources:   By Love Refined <a href="https://sophiainstitute.com/product/by-love-refined/?srsltid=AfmBOoqO3lJMj2FF_pWgyWOi3sgxiatKYn1LayKZQIHEOg34FnEkgugd">https://sophiainstitute.com/product/by-love-refined/?srsltid=AfmBOoqO3lJMj2FF_pWgyWOi3sgxiatKYn1LayKZQIHEOg34FnEkgugd</a> Marriage Unhindered <a href="https://www.marriageunhindered.com/">https://www.marriageunhindered.com/</a>   Catholic Therapists <a href="https://www.catholictherapists.com/">https://www.catholictherapists.com/</a>

Growing in Intimacy

Behold, I make all things new. Revelation21:5¬†
It does us all good to refresh, renew, and rediscover what it means to be human, to be a child of God. In Home Again by Fr. John Henry Hanson, he desires to lead you "home" through a prayerful revitalization of your faith in God's plan for you‚Äîyour story‚Äîby recalling its incredible beauty and depth. He reminds you that your identity as a Christian is strengthened through the sacraments‚Äîgifts of the Church that accompany and enrich you through life.¬†
"Change without grace, renovation without interior renewal, is spiritually worthless. The thing remodeled, so to speak, remains what it always was. The most important kind of regeneration isn't outward or skin-deep but takes places in the hidden depths of the soul."¬†
Allow yourself to be reminded that God is a lover whose very desires for you will lead you directly to fulfillment and everlasting joy. The author hopes for you to live the resounding cry: 
"My story must flow from him, and return to him."

Home Again

Doug unpacks men&rsquo;s emotional needs in relationships including respect, acceptance, trust, affection, and words of affirmation. Listener questions and comments: <ul> <li>Edward - I think men's emotional needs are fulfilled with physical intimacy. (9:30)</li> <li>Mary Alice - What do you do when your husband is bragging about you in public, but not at home. There's verbal abuse, almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (19:51)</li> <li>Jack - I'm dealing with an adult son who&rsquo;s 30 years old and his fianc&eacute; was criticizing him in front of my daughter, her boyfriend and my ex. What do you think? (24:39)</li> <li>Marcel - If couples are not following what Doug is saying about intimacy, trust, and affection, then it's not a marriage, and you have a real problem. (33:29)</li> <li>Susan - You don't get to use the excuse of past experiences as a get out of jail free card. (39:03)</li> <li>Regina - My husband is very odd and he gets angry with me when I say good things about him. He thinks I lie, and then he tells the kids I'm lying. (42:20)</li> </ul>

Men’s Emotional Needs

A meditation on fear, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai, at Kintore College, Oct 14, 2022.
Luke 12:1-7: The people had gathered in their thousands so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began to speak, first of all to his disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy. (...) ‘To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.’
 
Why be aware of the Pharisees? They knew the law. They were experts. Why? Because it seems a common conclusion that if someone knows the law, and is not truly affected by it, then the law must be to blame. It must not really have the power to transform or to change someone. Yet the Lord relies on our freedom. It is true now as well. Many lapsed Catholics will blame some priest or some religious person’s lack of integrity to justify why they don’t practice.
Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink
Thumbnail: Rembrandt, Head of Christ, circa 1648-1656, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia. Wikicommons.
https://www.youtube.com/c/EricNicolai/videos
www.ernescliff.ca
www.opusdei.ca

Worth More than a Hundred Sparrows

Doug explores the Knights of Columbus booklet, God&rsquo;s Plan for Love and Marriage. &nbsp; Listener questions and comments: <ul> <li>Liz - I am in a marriage where my husband is not a Christian and he sees my faith as exclusive and a wedge. How do I address this? I have been married for 26 years. (21:06)</li> <li>Bobby - How do you connect with someone who is selfish? (39:27)</li> </ul> &nbsp; Resources: God's Plan for Love and Marriage <a href="https://www.kofc.org/en/resources/cis/cis333.pdf">https://www.kofc.org/en/resources/cis/cis333.pdf</a> &nbsp; 5 Key Points <ol> <li>Self-giving love</li> <li>Original Solitude</li> <li>Original Unity</li> <li>Original nakedness</li> <li>Original shame</li> </ol>

Self-giving Love

This week, we are sharing a favorite passage from Fr. Jacques Philippe's book Interior Freedom on the importance of accepting ourselves. Here he discusses the importance of knowing we are sinners and working to become Saints.

Accepting Ourselves - Interior Freedom

Doug unpacks a letter from Alice Von Hildebrand and gives his thoughts on building a loving, lasting marriage. He shares the 5:1 ratio you need to practice to keep love alive. Doug also tackles listener questions on prenuptial agreements, finances in marriage, and gives his advice on what to do when the intimacy in marriage is gone.   By Love Refined: Letters to a Young Bride <a href="https://sophiainstitute.com/product/by-love-refined/">https://sophiainstitute.com/product/by-love-refined/</a>

Keeping Love Alive

On this podcast we reflect on beginning a new year and what it means to begin again. During this time of prayer, we want to ask ourselves: What can I do to make these twelve months ahead spectacular? First, we want to accelerate to the finish, which means hastening towards our goal of Heaven. This brings up the topic of strategy: How do we go about doing it? Jesus Christ shows us the way. He said to be perfect like His Heavenly Father is perfect and He gives us the gift of forgiveness of sins— the sacrament of confession. The Lord is telling us that when we begin again, when we give Him a chance to forgive us, He is filled with joy because we allow Him to exercise His mercy. As a result of the sacrament, we will reflect joy and serenity because of the marvelous gift of mercy. St. Josemaria called it the sacrament of joy because it guarantees our turning back to God and restores our divine friendship with Him. This reflection should inspire us to make the resolution to do whatever it takes to go to confession regularly. It should also inspire us to ask Our Lord to help us find the right time and way to bring up the topic of “beginning again” among our friends and coworkers, especially a friend who is hurting. We want to be like the faithful friends who carried the paralytic man to Jesus; his sins were forgiven and he was brought to life (Mark 2:1-12). We want to pray about that friend (or friends) during the coming weeks, knowing that our friends will never forget us for having helped restore them to life. Subscribe to our NEW Devotions channel where we share audio recordings of our popular novenas and devotions available at www.stjosemaria.org to accompany you in your time of prayer, whether at home or on the go. Click here to subscribe on <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/devotions-on-the-st-josemaria-institute-podcast/id1895870885'>Apple Podcasts</a> and <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/1rpuXHM94Y06ouU37iIMHH?si=6508be06971e4324'>Spotify.</a> <a rel="payment" href="https://stjosemaria.org/give/">Support the show</a>THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you:<ul><li>Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review.</li><li>Stay connected with us on <a href='https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/'>Facebook</a> and <a href='https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/'>Instagram</a>. </li><li>Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: <a href='https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/'>www.stjosemaria.org</a></li></ul>Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: <a href='https://stjosemaria.org/give/'>Give today!</a> <a href='https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/'> </a>

Restoring Back to Life

Today's spiritual reading comes from our best-selling author, Fr. Jacques Philippe's book Fire and Light: Learning to Receive the Gift of God.