MARCH 2008

Alex and Linetta
Marouf of Troy
said the classes
helped prepare
them for
marriage.
you gotta
have class
Pre-marital instruction
helps couples thrive
BY OMAR BINNO
Marriage is a lifelong commitment that
entails loving each other through good
times as well as bad.
The Chaldean Archdiocese wants to
make sure couples understand that, so they require
engaged couples who are to be married in a
Chaldean church complete its Marriage and Family
Planning course. The classes take place the first
three Thursdays of each month and are mandatory
in order for the church to grant an official marriage.
Those who struggle with English are offered private
sessions in Arabic or Chaldean.
“The classes are held at Mother of God in
Southfield and St. Joseph Church in Troy,” said Fr.
Stephan Kallabat of Mar Addai in Oak Park.
Mother of God in Southfield holds the classes during
the odd months for parishioners who live on the
West Side of Southeast Michigan while St. Joseph
in Troy holds them during the even months for
those on the East Side.
Fr. Kallabat and Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim have
conducted the classes since their inception nearly
15 years ago. The first lecture is given by Bishop
Ibrahim, the second by Fr. Kallabat and the final
one by Janan Senawi, the Archdiocese’s director of
Chaldean Family Counseling.
“The classes cover all aspects of human life
between a couple — including liturgical, social,
psychological and spiritual — and Christianity’s
role within their lives,” Fr. Kallabat said.
“I’ve handled the final lectures of the classes for
the last five years,” Senawi said. “We cover comprehensive
topics like the difference between contract
and covenant marriages, family of origin, communication,
commitment, common values, sacrifice
and in-laws, just to name a few.”
Troy newlyweds Alex Marouf and his wife
Linetta said the classes were highly beneficial in
helping them understand what lies within the commitment
of marriage.
“I appreciated how the points of marriage were
presented in a very realistic sense as opposed to getting
carried away with the excitement or disillusionment
of it,” said Marouf. “For example, the simple
question ‘Why are you getting married?’ proved
to be thought-provoking for many. When reflecting
on that answer, it is certain that one will feel
more or less confident about his or her reasons.”
Marouf had such a positive experience with the
class that he believes it should expand beyond the
three sessions.
“I think it actually would be more beneficial for
people to have this experience at an earlier stage in
life — perhaps even before one gets into a relationship
rather than just before the actual marriage
date,” Marouf said. “We can apply such useful
knowledge to our lives earlier than most may
think.”
Fr. Kallabat and Senawi share this sentiment,
and believe that the four hours in which the class is
taught are not nearly enough to cover all the topics
of the course adequately. The church will possibly
come up with an expanded version in the near
future, said Senawi, noting that many Roman
Catholic churches require at least 12 hours of
instruction.
“We need many more hours than this to teach
what we want to teach thoroughly and to explore
even more topics than the ones we already discuss,”
said Fr. Kallabat.
Senawi agrees. “While some couples may feel
that what we teach is good enough and others may
think that keeping a marriage happy is mere common
sense, others feel that the classes need to be
more comprehensive,” she said. “Personally I feel
that we can offer a lot more in the form of other
topics such as faith-based relationships, personality
traits, attitudes and expectations, intimacy, sexuality,
financial responsibility, parenting of children
and much more.”
the wedding guide
“TWO SOULS WITH BUT A SINGLE THOUGHT, TWO HEARTS THAT BEAT AS ONE.” – FREDRICH HALM
MARCH 2008 CHALDEAN NEWS 27