Then some bad things happened in my life -- infertility and third trimester pregnancy loss -- and God and I broke up for a while. My job is not to convert him to a believer and his job is to leave my beliefs alone and not mock me for having them (the not mocking part is important). We are both "good, giving, and game." Yes, that term was created by Dan Savage and is meant to tackle sexual turn-ons in relationships (if your partner is into something you're not, you should still try to be good, giving, and game even if you don't want to do that particular act every time), but it also works well with most relationship challenges.But in my grief I found myself drifting into another liberal Methodist Church, and I found solace there for many years. He grew up without much religious exposure, although his father was a "spiritual seeker," dabbling in everything before returning to the Catholic Church. My husband and his aspirituality cheerfully join me each Christmas Eve at a candlelight service and I drive the car when he wants to photograph freight trains.I have found that many young couples who may not be that connected to their faith traditions think that the religious issue will not be a problem.Unfortunately, they don't appreciate how these matters may crop up later to present very difficult challenges.When couples have struggles over different beliefs, it often results in the Catholic partner leaving his or her faith in favor of the other partner’s. Some people believe as long as a couple is in love and gets along well, it doesn’t matter if their religious beliefs – or lack thereof – differ. When you commit to something or someone in any way, you become to them.Employees are yoked to their company’s owners and their policies, for example, because of their commitment to work for them and represent the owners’ beliefs and philosophies to the public.I am in a great relationship with a guy who is not Catholic, he is an atheist. What is the big deal about having to date a Catholic, anyway? This is an excerpt from an email I recently received, and the writer asks a great question.These days, it may seem petty to some single Catholics when people advise them to date and marry someone who is also Catholic, as opposed to someone of a different faith.

It may seem disconcerting, but could it not also be a call to greater religious harmony? I would like to offer a few points for reflection based on my 30 years of experience as a priest who has been involved in many interfaith weddings.

As an adult, I'd place my hand on the outside of the plane while boarding and pray that the "sacred blood of our Lord Jesus Christ" would protect the plane and passengers -- and I believed with my whole heart that it would work (since I haven't been involved in a plane crash, I guess it did). I abandoned all thoughts of God in my twenties, until it became clear that I needed to be sober.

Recovery meetings are spiritual (not religious) and at that point I settled on a God-centric but non-Christian spirituality that worked perfectly for me. My husband's spirituality is absolutely not my concern.

These points don't exhaust the issues, but do illustrate some of the areas that need to be addressed. All decisions about ceremony and children need to take second place to the love relationship of the couple.

If that is weakened, then no matter how the children are raised, they will not benefit from the strong love of the couple. You cannot be a Jew and a Christian at the same time.