Amazing Catechists

Teaching and learning the faith together

  • Home
  • About
    • About Amazing Catechists
    • Patron Saint of Amazing Catechists
    • Donations
  • Topics
    • Art
    • Campus Ministry
    • Catechetics
    • Catechism
    • Catechist Training
    • Catholic Spirituality
    • Church Documents
    • Columnists
    • Culture
    • Elementary School
    • Evangelization
    • Family Life
    • Featured
    • Games
    • General
    • Grief Resources
    • High School
    • Homeschooling
    • Liturgical
    • Mary
    • Middle School
    • Music
    • New Age
    • NFP/Chastity
    • Prayer
    • RCIA & Adult Ed
    • Reader Suggestions
    • Sacraments
    • Scripture
    • Special Needs
    • Spiritual Warfare
    • Technology
    • Theology
    • Therapeutic
    • Video
    • Vocations
  • Contributors
    • Alice Gunther
    • Amanda Woodiel
    • Cay Gibson
    • Christian LeBlanc
    • Christopher Smith
    • Deanna Bartalini
    • Dorian Speed
    • Elizabeth Ficocelli
    • Elizabeth Tichvon
    • Ellen Gable Hrkach
    • Faith Writer
    • Father Juan R. Velez
    • Gabe Garnica
    • Jeannie Ewing
    • Jennifer Fitz
    • Justin Combs
    • Karee Santos
    • Lisa Mladinich
    • Marc Cardaronella
    • Maria Rivera
    • Mary Ellen Barrett
    • Mary Lou Rosien
    • Maureen Smith
    • Msgr. Robert Batule
    • Msgr. Charles Pope
    • Pat Gohn
    • Peggy Clores
    • Robyn Lee
    • Rocco Fortunato
    • Sarah Reinhard
    • Steve McVey
    • Tanja Cilia
    • William O’Leary
    • Alex Basile
  • Shop
  • Contact us

Printable Personality Differences Worksheet #freebie #4KEYS

By Karee Santos

turning-two-into-one-canva-graphic

This printable personality differences worksheet is one of the most popular in the series from my Catholic marriage advice book The Four Keys to Everlasting Love. Please feel free to download, print, and share it widely. FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION, CLICK HERE.

The worksheets are ideal for marriage prep or marriage enrichment, either in small groups or break-out sessions. They can also be used at home, of course, or together with the 4 Keys Online Book Club, which is covering Chapter One this week.

Chapter 1 Worksheet

Turning Two into One:

How to Overcome the Differences that Divide You

Whether you’re newly engaged or long married, congratulations on embarking on the experience of a lifetime! Marriage is quite an adventure, and somehow never exactly what we expect. Our God, after all, is a God of surprises, as Pope Francis is fond of saying.

The first bump in the road that many couples encounter is overcoming personality differences. Opposites really do attract, and that adds to the excitement but can also create conflict. Manny and Karee were very different, as they explain in Chapter One of The Four Keys. When they met, Manny was a “first-generation Spanish American, longtime New Yorker, Catholic, Republican, extrovert, and optimist.” In contrast, Karee was “a Virginian born and bred Episcopalian, Southern Democrat, and introvert with a slight tendency toward gloom.” They overcame their differences through respectful debate and reliance on God who loved them both equally.

In Chapter One, Manny and Karee describe their courtship, the early years of their marriage, and their dramatic struggle through Manny’s four brain surgeries to remove recurring tumors. Along the way, they will show you how to:

  •       Appreciate your personality differences
  •       Find common cultural and religious ground
  •       View disagreements as opportunities for growth
  •       Stand by each other in troubled times
  •       Overcome fear through faith

Conversation Starters

You can use the following conversation starters to get a discussion going among yourselves or in a small group. If it helps, think it over on your own time, take it to prayer, and jot down your answers before talking about them.

  1.       What personality, cultural, or religious differences do the two of you have? How have you handled them so far?
  1.       How often do you discuss important and difficult topics? How often do you apologize if what you say hurts or angers the other person?
  1.       Think of the biggest crisis that has hit your relationship. What character strengths or weaknesses were revealed in each of you?
  1.       Which friends and family members can you rely on to support your marriage?

Read all posts by Karee Santos Filed Under: Catechetics, Catechist Training, Featured, General, Sacraments Tagged With: Catholic marriage, marriage enrichment, marriage preparation, personality, sacrament of marriage

13 Resources on Sacramental Marriage for Everyone from Newbies to Catechists

By Karee Santos

Girl with glasses reading book

Catholic schoolchildren learn that marriage is one of the seven sacraments, but no one seems to understand what that really means. Yes, marriage — as a sacrament — is an outer sign of an inner grace, but that doesn’t explain much to most people. The catchphrase “free, faithful, fruitful, and forever” says more about what spouses do for a marriage than what marriage does for the spouses.

I like how my spiritual director says it best — it’s all about the graces! With a sacramental marriage come beautiful graces of state that empower us to live the life to which God called us and live it to the fullest. That’s what the Sacrament of Matrimony offers husbands and wives married in the Church, “sealed by a blessing, announced by angels, and ratified by the Father” (CCC 1642).

For anyone interested in exploring what the sacrament of marriage means and the difference it can make to husbands and wives, there are plenty of video and print resources for everyone from theology newbies to experienced catechists.

For Theology Newbies

1. Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan, 2009 pastoral letter from the U.S.Council of Catholic Bishops, downloadable pdf available free at the bishops’ web site (also in Spanish)

2.  Saying I Do: What Happens at a Catholic Wedding, streaming video resource from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, available free at the bishops’ web site

3. When Two Become One, a DVD starring yours truly and 3 other couples, plus explanation by a priest. Available for purchase here. Watch a clip on my blog’s About Me page here.

4. Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak, Just Married: The Catholic Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the First Five Years of Marriage (Ave Maria Press, 2013). By a popular Catholic psychologist and his wife.

5. Couples in Love: Straight Talk on Dating, Respect, Commitment, Marriage, and Sexuality, by Fr. John R. Waiss (Crossroad Pub. 2003). By my former spiritual director. Structured as a conversation between a dating couple and a priest.

For Theology Buffs

6. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Three to Get Married (Scepter Pubs., 1996). Originally published in 1951. A spiritual classic.

7. Scott Hahn, First Comes Love: The Family in the Church and the Trinity (Random House, 2002). Who doesn’t like Scott Hahn?

8. Christopher West, Good News about Sex & Marriage: Revised Edition (Servant Books, 2004; updated 2007). Detailed, specific, and clear.

9. William May, Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family is Built, 2d ed. (Ignatius Press, 2009). Includes Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Families.

10. Cormac Burke, Covenanted Happiness: Love and Commitment in Marriage (Scepter Pubs., 1999). With forward by Dr. Janet E. Smith.

For Catechists

11. Ramón García De Haro, Marriage and the Family in the Documents of the Magisterium: A Course in the Theology of Marriage, (Ignatius Press, 1993).  Translated by William May. Academic and pretty heavy going. Helps if you already have familiarity with the main documents.

12. Tim Muldoon & Cynthia S. Dobrzynski, eds., Love One Another: Catholic Reflections on Sustaining Marriages Today (The Church in the 21st Century), (Crossroad Pub., 2010).  A collection of essays including advice on how to rescue marriage prep from its current disastrous state.

13. Mary Amore, Helping Your Marriage Survive the Call to Ministry, Ministry & Liturgy Magazine,  vol 32, no.1, (Feb. 2005). Great for any married person involved in ministry or catechesis. Call 408-286-8505 for back issues or reprints.

Read all posts by Karee Santos Filed Under: Catechetics Tagged With: can we cana, Catholic marriage, chris west, fulton sheen, greg popcak, marriage, sacrament of marriage, sacrament of matrimony, scott hahn

Search

Follow Us!

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Sign up for our Newsletter!

Join our email list and get immediate access to the free guide 'High Impact Lesson & Classroom Management Tips'.

Help us to serve the Church by patronizing our affiliates.

FTC Disclosure: If you make a purchase via a link on this site, we may receive a small commission. There will be no added cost to you. Thank you!

Sock Religious

That One Sheep Shirts

That One Sheep Shirts

Stickers

Stickers

The Catholic Store

Catholic Bibles

Catholic Bibles

catholic-jewelry

Catholic Religious Jewelry

Holy Heroes

holy-heroes

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Amazing Catechists. · Log in