Marriage is the common vocation, of course. I believe is the main argument for why we are so quiet about marriage when we discuss vocations. The majority of people will get married, so there’s no need to talk about it.

But I believe this has consequences for our Church. I think we need to talk about marriage as a vocation much more often than we do. We celebrate with couples on their wedding day, but beyond that, how many of us can say we really take time to think about our married friends and pray for and support their marriage? As a Church, in practice, we don’t treat marriage like it is a vocation that should be taken as seriously as the priesthood or religious life.

Ask any married couple you know how they are doing and I will tell you: they’re struggling.

If you’re looking for a creative nudge, check out the list below. I’ve included themes as well as gift ideas plus Catholic-inspired presents that fit within the themes.

This list goes through the first 10 years of marriage. Send me an email if you’re looking for your eleventh anniversary or beyond and I might just add it!

Learn to love yourself first and notice God's graces in the little things around you in your daily life. If you're constantly looking to your partner to “make you happy” or “save you,” you'll become distracted from everything God is blessing you with.

Although we can’t really pin down its origin, one new trend from the last few decades has been the unity candle. The unity candle includes some brief ritual where the parents of the bride and groom or the couple themselves light two separate candles, which are then brought together in one larger candle in the center. Two families, two individuals, however you want to look at it, are becoming one just as the separate flames become one flame.

You might have noticed this week is National Vocations Week here in the United States. My priest talked about it this past weekend and my social media has been full of discussions about it.

One thing I couldn’t help but notice, though, was that Vocations Week only focuses on the priesthood and religious life. There hasn’t been any talk, that I’ve seen, about the vocation to marriage.