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In their new book Three Secrets to Holiness in Marriage Dan and Amber DeMatte offer a 33-day, in-home retreat for couples as a means to live radical holiness and consecrate your marriage to Christ. Giving and receiving love and living for the sake of others—especially your spouse and children—will help you achieve holiness, they say. You can even find holiness in the everyday tasks of marriage and family life such as doing the dishes, changing diapers, and cleaning up messes. This retreat will help you fall deeper in love with Christ, your spouse and children, and the world God calls you to serve. The DeMattes shared their vision and hopes for the book in an interview with Ave Maria Press. Ave: What inspired you to write Three Secrets to Holiness in Marriage? Dan: Holiness in marriage is difficult. It’s hard to be holy when you are raising children, going to work, keeping up with household chores, and managing busy lives. But we wanted to live radical holiness in our lives. We didn’t want to blend in to the rest of the world and walk along the wide path that leads to destruction. We wanted to discover the narrow path. Three Secrets to Holiness in Marriage is our reflections on what walking the narrow path looks like as married couples. It is in fact the "more" that you are looking for as a married couple. Amber: We were inspired to write this book by a call for radical holiness in our lives. I'm sure many of us have experienced it. It's a whisper in our hearts that simply cries out for more. We want more of God and more from our marriages but we need a practical path to get there. The Lord inspired Dan to unpack the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. At first, I'll be honest, it scared me. Doesn't poverty stoke fear in most of us? But as we explored it together I grew in appreciation for the freedom, joy, and abundance these counsels brought into our lives and our marriage. Ave: What is the most important message you want readers to walk away from the book with? Dan: They are created to be a self-gift in every aspect of their lives. They are to be a gift with their finances, a gift with their time, a gift with their resources, a gift to their spouse, and a gift to the world. I want the readers to know that their marriage isn’t for themselves, but it is for the kingdom of God. They exist to bring heaven to earth. Amber: I'd love to see our readers walk away with a more intimate relationship with God the Father. He offers abundant life through the radical call of the cross. His arms are heavy with gifts for us. I want to see our readers receive those gifts and live that life. Why is this topic so important right now? Dan: Marriage is in crisis. With divorces increasing every day, the three secrets to holiness in marriage are, in fact, the recipe to cure divorce in the world. Amber: We all enter into marriage with such high hopes. If they've picked up this book, chances are the readers began their marriages focused on living their lives for Christ. But then life happens and all of a sudden you begin to understand why everyone says marriage is hard! What many of us don't know is that we can do hard things. We forget that God is for us, not against us. And frankly, we forget the Cross. The Father is giving us everything we need to succeed in marriage and obtain salvation together. Have you seen changes in your own relationship since you wrote the book? Dan: I’ve found a lot of peace. Our marriage was never "broken" so it didn’t need to be fixed. But I wanted more in life. I wanted to give God everything but I didn’t know how. These three secrets taught me how to give God everything while living marriage. I love Jesus more; I love my wife more; and I love my children more having written this book. Amber: There is no better way to learn than to teach. While writing this book the Holy Spirit shone a light on many areas in our own personal lives where Dan and I need to change and grow. We are on this journey with you! The end goal is perfect love!

It’s providential that a book on gratefulness is being released during a time of intense division in the United States. In Gratefulness: The Habit of a Grace-Filled Life, Susan Muto, executive director of the Epiphany Association, explores how life-changing a spirit of gratefulness can be by using both personal and well-known examples of the struggles and rewards of grateful living. Muto and companions such as Julian of Norwich, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Henri J. M. Nouwen, and Dorothy Day highlight the power of gratitude as a grace from God and walk with us as we learn to practice thankfulness. Muto also shares about the benefits of positivity and dangers of negativity, the redemptive power of prayer, and the lasting fruits of thankfulness. She talked more about the book in this Q&A with Ave Maria Press: Ave Maria Press: What inspired you to write Gratefulness? Susan Muto: The answer is simple. On a personal note I want to be a more grateful person, and I ask God daily to grant me this grace. On a second note, I seemed to have reached a point where I cannot bear the blanket of negativity that covers so much of our culture today. Bad news. Hatred. Bitter complaints. All breed the poison of negativity. It concerns me, and it ought to concern everyone who reads this book. We need to honor scripture and proclaim the Good News; love one another as God loves us; and find at least one reason everyday to be grateful. Ave: What is the most important message you want readers to walk away from the book with? Muto: I want to arm readers with the conviction that to be grateful is not to be "pollyannish," but to be proponents of a positive approach to life that is good for their health (research reveals that negativity and stress erode our immune system) and an excellent way to promote a holier life (positivity lightens every burden life puts upon us). In brief, the main message of this book is: A grateful heart will change your life for the better. Ave: Why is the topic of gratefulness so critical now? Muto: Each time we turn on the television or read a newspaper or browse social media, we can feel descending upon us the heavy weight of nets of negativity that can result in low-grade depression and a devilish feeling of hopelessness. We must ask ourselves if we have the courage to trust in the Lord and be thankful; to respect life on all levels; and to truly believe that goodness prevails over evil. Gratefulness may not come as naturally to us as ungratefulness. That is why we need to ask God for this grace. As I try to show in my book, we also need to consult the companions of grateful living God has given us in the saints, the mystics, and the spiritual masters both alive and well from ancient to modern times. Ave: Why are the saints and mystics good models of gratefulness? Is there one in particular whom you connect with more than others? Muto: These stellar souls prove the point that to place God first in our life is to choose to be loving, not hateful, like St. John of the Cross; generous, not greedy like Dorothy Day; self-giving, not self-serving, like St. Vincent de Paul. Deeply impressive to me was the life and writing of the fourteenth-century English mystic Julian of Norwich. Etched on my heart for many years and penned in this book are her wonderfully appreciative words, "All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." Such is the habit of a grace-filled life and such is the physically, emotional, and spiritual wellness and happiness it yields. May every reader of Gratefulness benefit from this legacy and pass it on to the next generation of the grateful and gracious people of God.

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