Christendom’s Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success, Tom McFadden, has released a new book, A Catholic’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Spouse, with 101 Simple Questions. The book, praised by Raymond Cardinal Burke, Patrick Madrid, Jason Evert, and others, provides conversation starters for couples as they date and discern marriage.
McFadden, who has served in various roles at Christendom since 2000 and as VP for Enrollment since 2014, first conceived of the idea for the book 25 years ago when he created a pamphlet of questions to help couples in the discernment process. Since then, hundreds have used his 101 Simple Questions to help discern compatibility in marriage.
“People spend a lot of time and effort and put a lot of emotional feelings into dating, and rightfully so,” says McFadden in an interview with the Arlington Catholic Herald. “But most people spend the first couple of dates going places, doing things, having fun. That’s all good and fine, but just doing things and having fun doesn’t get to the heart of the matter: do you both feel the same way about certain topics, and do you both have the same beliefs on essential matters of faith, family, culture, and the world? These are what my questions try to ask. There are no answers in the book, just questions. The whole book is meant to give couples conversation starters.”
Since its release, the book has received strong endorsements, including from Cardinal Burke, who called it “down-to-earth” and “faith-inspired.”
“From many years of pastoral experience, especially with young men and women who are seeking the right spouse to marry, I wholeheartedly welcome the publication of A Catholic’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Spouse … with 101 Simple Questions,” says Cardinal Burke. “Thomas McFadden has cataloged a complete – as complete as I could imagine – list of questions for a man and woman to ask in contemplating the faithful, lifelong, and procreative union which is marriage and its incomparable fruit, family life. His book is a down-to-earth and faith-inspired help to all who want to understand more completely the grace of Holy Matrimony.”
McFadden’s book joins other Christendom alumni works focusing on dating and marriage, including Rachel (Hoover) Canto’s ’16 acclaimed book Pretty Good Catholic: How to Find, Date, and Marry Someone Who Shares Your Faith, and Mary-Rose Verret ’04 and Peter Jesserer Smith’s ’09 The Road to Missionary Discipleship: Forming Marriages and Families to Share the Joy of the Gospel.
To order the book, visit here.