Knowing Jesus is the best gift that any person can receive.

If you're hungry for that encounter, if you're dying to know the love of God,

which alone makes sense out of life, if you're longing to know that you matter so much

and that his power can fill you with all that you need

so that you can be the man or the woman that you want to be, then join me and dig into the

scriptures and the teachings of the church so that we can find the life that Jesus has made us for.

Ave Maria Radio presents Christ is the answer with Father John Ricardo.

He's a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit and is currently the executive director of a non-profit organization called Acts 29, which exists to work with pastors on their teams to transform their parish culture and reclaim the church's missionary identity. He was ordained in 1996. On this program, Father Ricardo talks about preparation for marriage. How much preparation did we receive? As he delves into the topic,

he raises the question, especially for women, can we trust what the Bible says about marriage?

Is it outdated? Is it patriarchal or is it oppressive?

Here's Father John Ricardo and marriage.

God's love made visible.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Father, we thank you for this day and for the precious gift of life that you've entrusted to all of us.

Father, we want to thank you tonight in a special way for the beautiful gift of marriage and for the gift of your word. Lord, we're mindful that we are not

nearly as much as we should be, people of the scriptures, but therein is found life and truth

and your plan for us,

and especially your plan for marriage.

So we pray that you would continue to open our eyes to what it is that you have revealed,

continue to clear away the cobwebs and the fears and the misconceptions that we might have,

help us to know the truth and to live it well,

so that we might be ever more authentic witnesses

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