For Better…
FOREVER
REVISED AND EXPANDED
For Better…
FOREVER
A Catholic Guide to Lifelong Marriage
REVISED AND EXPANDED
Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Nihil Obstat Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D. Censor Librorum
Imprimatur
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition (NRSV), copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Where noted, other Scripture quotations are from: (1) the New American Bible, revised edition (NABRE), copyright © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. (2) Revised Standard Version of the Bible — Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition) (RSV-CE), copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Quotations from papal and other Vatican-generated documents available on vatican.va are copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 1999, 2008, 2015 by Gregory K. Popcak and Lisa Popcak. Published 2015.
20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza,
Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440
ISBN: 978-1-61278-906-4 (Inventory No. T1691)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-907-1
LCCN: 2015941968
Cover design: Amanda Falk
Cover art: Shutterstock
Interior design: Sherri L. Hoffman
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
First Edition
For Isaiah, whose short life helped us pursue a deeper path.
And for our children who remain with us. May God grant them
many blessed years, may they live in health and happiness,
and may they find the love he has for them.
Second Edition
To our children. May God bless them
with the love that comes from his very own heart.
Table of Contents
Introduction — “Happily Ever After”: The Possible Dream
Part One: Revealing the Vision
Chapter 1 — Marriage: Vive la “Catholic Difference”!
Chapter 2 — The Celebration of a Lifetime: The Two Become One
Chapter 3 — The Celebration Continues: A Life-Giving Love
Chapter 4 — At the Feet of the Master: Lessons in Love
Part Two: Where Are We? How Did We Get Here? Where Are We Going?
Chapter 5 — The Relationship Pathway
Chapter 6 — On the Road to “Happily Ever After”: Marriage Mountain and the Stages of Married Life
Part Three: The Road to Intimacy
Chapter 7 — What You Can Do to Maintain the Woo! The Secrets of Lifelong Love Exposed
Chapter 8 — The Road Trip (or “Der Intimacy Ist Goot, Ja?”)
Chapter 9 — The Princess, the Frog Prince, and Freud
Chapter 10 — The Secrets of Red-Hot Loving (or How to Be Loving When Conflict Heats Things Up)
Chapter 11 — “Holy Sex, Batman!” (or Why Catholics Do It … Infallibly)
Chapter 12 — What If My Spouse Doesn’t Share My Spiritual Life?
