Register Columnist Publishes New Book On Marriage

The Tennessee Register: June 8, 2012

Maria Bonvissuto

For those couples present at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provided the perfect guide to married virtue. Author and former marriage and family therapist John Bosio brings Jesus’ message to modern spouses in his new book, “Blessed is Marriage: A Guide to the Beatitudes for Catholic Couples.”  

     

Released in March of 2012, “Blessed is Marriage” is a deeply spiritual yet practical guide for Catholic couples on using the Beatitudes to sanctify married life. Drawing on Scripture, the writings and teachings of recent popes, and inspiring, real-life anecdotes, the book provides a how-to guide for cultivating the attitudes and virtues necessary for a happy and holy marriage. 

     

Bosio, a husband and father and columnist, is no stranger to writing spiritual advice for husbands and wives. In 2008 he authored “Happy Together: The Catholic Blueprint for a Loving Marriage,” which was soon

followed by a complementary video series called SIX DATES. The book and video program has been used for couple formation by more than 50 parishes nationally.

     

“Blessed is Marriage” builds on this success to provide further guidance for spouses in the form of the Beatitudes. According to Bosio, the most important is the first, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” which calls for a dependence on God, without which a Christian cannot advance in the rest of the Beatitudes. 

     

“The same principle of poverty of spirit applies to married life,” Bosio said. “If we cannot recognize that we need our spouse, and are not willing to give up some of ourselves to make room in our life for our spouse, we are not able to love.”

     

Throughout the text, Bosio ties in real-life lessons and virtues with the transcendent wisdom of the Beatitudes. In everyday terms, for example, “Blessed are the meek, relates to treating one’s spouse with respect.

     

“Being meek, as Jesus commands us, does not mean being a wimp and letting others step all over us,”  Bosio wrote. “Meekness is an attitude that helps us run the marriage race successfully by being sensitive and respectful of each other’s wants and needs.”

     

The book, which has been given the Imprimatur by Nashville Bishop David Choby, can be used in a variety of ways: for individual reflection, for reading together as a couple, or as a tool for group discussion in church programs.

     

Each chapter begins with true stories of couples that successfully implemented the Beatitudes into their lives. The “Where do I start?” section at the end of the chapter provides bullet-point suggestions for growing in a particular Beatitude.

     

One such example is Bosio’s advice for harmony in couple communication:

     • Listen while keeping an open mind.

     • If necessary, repeat back what you have heard and what you think it means.

     • Have your spouse confirm that your understanding is correct.

     Bosio feels that his new work is an invitation for spouses to allow God to enter their busy lives and grace their married vocation.

     

“One of the premises of the book is that true happiness in marriage is not something we create on our own,” he said. “It is only when both spouses are attuned to God’s voice that they can find true contentment in God’s presence and in the company of each other.”

     

Bosio and his wife, Teri, have produced a new series of videos to accompany “Blessed is Marriage”; the book and video program, “The Beatitudes: A Couple’s Path to Greater Joy,” will be introduced for the first time in July at the International Conference of the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers in Dallas. 

     

Already, “Blessed is Marriage” has earned the acclaim of many readers in the Catholic community. It’s received endorsements from New York Times bestselling Catholic author Matthew Kelly and National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers president Lorrie Gramer. Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz also gave

the book his blessing, remarking, “With a plethora of ‘how to’ books on the market today, it is refreshing to find one with solid theological and pastoral principles directed to married couples … this book speaks to both head and heart. I am pleased to recommend it.”

     

“I feel humbled by the response the book is receiving and the fact that this book seems to meet a need in the Church today,” Bosio said. 

     

Ultimately, the author anticipates his book will assist Catholic spouses in their daily struggle for peace and happiness by calling them away from selfishness and towards the call of Christ in His Sermon on the Mount. “What I hope couples will take away from reading the book,” Bosio said, “is that what they do each day is holy.” In his eyes, there is no surer path to this holiness than the heroic practice

of the Beatitudes.

   

“Blessed Is Marriage” can be purchased at St. Mary’s Bookstore and online from Amazon.com or Twenty-Third Publications: http://store.pastoralplanning.