Recently, a young man in the SmartLoving Engaged course asked for a refund. The reason? He felt the practical relationship skills were unnecessary, and that a good marriage required one thing only: to live a life in the grace of God.  

It’s a perspective that sounds beautiful on the surface. And he wasn’t entirely wrong – grace is foundational to marriage.  

But it raised a question that people have wrestled with for centuries: does faith alone carry a marriage? Or does God’s grace work through our very human efforts to communicate, understand, forgive, and grow together? 

This is the sort of question that Love Forever, the newest publication from the YOUCAT Foundation (Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church), answers with warmth and courage.  

What Is YOUCAT Love Forever? 

Developed in collaboration with young adults from 30 countries across five continents, Love Forever is styled after other titles in the YOUCAT series.  

Written in a punchy question-and-answer format, it tackles more than 200 questions submitted by real young people – questions that are honest, sometimes uncomfortable, yet always relevant. 

With a foreword by Pope Francis – now understood to be among his last written works – the book draws on the richness of scripture, the teachings of the Church, and the insights of relationship science. All this while remaining grounded in the everyday language of people navigating love, relationships, and commitment.  

Crucially, it approaches every topic through an integrated view of the human person – body, soul, and spirit together.  

This isn’t a book that spiritualises away life’s messy realities. It meets people where they are with truth and sensitivity. 

Three Topics That Surprised Us 

Where Love Forever really earns its stripes is that – alongside the expected commentary on vows, sacrament, and sexuality – the book ventures into the gritty territory that many resources walk past. For example: 

1. Breaking Up. Yes! It’s a marriage preparation book that addresses breaking up and does so without flinching. Rather than treating every relationship as something to be preserved at all costs, Love Forever acknowledges that discernment is an integral part of loving. Not every relationship is meant to lead to marriage, and recognising that honestly – and ending things with dignity and care – is an act of integrity. This kind of practical wisdom is precisely what helps people arrive at a lasting commitment with clear eyes, rather than stumbling into it unprepared. 
2. Arranged Marriages. In a global Church that includes cultures where arranged marriages remain common, this is a necessary conversation. Love Forever handles it with nuance, neither dismissing the practice outright nor endorsing coercion. The distinction it draws is between arrangements that honour the freedom and dignity of both partners, and those that don’t. It’s a section that reflects just how seriously the book took its brief to speak to young people from every corner of the world. 
3. Childless by Choice. In an age when choosing not to have children is increasingly normalised, Love Forever engages the question honestly rather than defensively. It articulates the Church’s vision of marriage as inherently open to life, but does so by inviting the reader into the richness of the why, rather than simply asserting the teaching position. It presents the reason rather than the rule, and that makes all the difference in bringing the reader along with the teaching. 

Grace + Smarts 

While we didn’t convince that young man that grace and practical wisdom are partners, not rivals, a book like Love Forever might have helped. Because what it understands is that God works through our humanity, not around it.  

Learning how to have a difficult conversation, recognising when a relationship is unhealthy, understanding what we’re committing when we say “I do”: these aren’t substitutes for grace – they’re the very ground in which grace takes root. 

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Republished with thanks to SmartLoving. Image courtesy of Pexels.