The Changing Face of Marriage

Do you feel compelled to someday establish the domestic church in your home? The "domestic church" is meant to be a microcosm of the Church-- in the family, where "love, forgiveness and trust should be first encountered." I think that I did experience this domestic church to some extent in my household when I was young. I was raised Catholic, and my family went to mass on a regular basis. However, I feel like the domestic church is not as common as it used to be. It seems that there are less practicing Christian or Catholic families in this generation than some years ago. For example, my experience with the domestic church is very different than that of my best friend, who was raised athiest. Clearly, there was a very different experience in my house than in hers. I think that with the media today, it is not "cool" to be a religious Christian. Nowadays the media seems to be picturing more and more diverse families. Diversity is a great thing, but I definitely do see a decline overall in the media's portrayal of Christian families (and sometimes, these portrayals can even be stereotypical and negative). Some of the pros, however, of this changing dynamic is that more diverse families are being pictured in the media. For example, same-sex parents, multiracial families, multi-religious families, and even non-religious families are being represented in the media. It is good to see a more representative sample of families across the U.S. Personally, I am not sure if I feel compelled to establish the domestic church in my home, because I haven't really thought about it much yet. Maybe as an adult I will have a better idea. Although it may seem a bit stereotypical, I understand why those with a college degree tend to experience less divorce and remarriage than those without a degree. Those who have graduated from college tend to be more mature and experienced, and also are usually more financially stable than those without a degree. In addition, those with a degree are probably more ready to "settle down" after they have established a career. Since the marrying age is getting later, the likeliness that people are getting college degrees before marriage is increasing.