God gave us a wonderful gift in that the two first years of our marriage we were studying at the ITI in the MMF program. These were the years of formation for each of us, both personally, and as a young Christian couple willing to learn how to live our faith better and how to live a Christian marriage.
First of all, this program allowed us to study the basics that every Catholic believer should know, such as Scripture and the Catechism. Second, we studied various subjects on marriage and the family based on Scripture, the documents of the Church, the Fathers of the Church, the teachings of John Paul II (Theology of the Body), Canon Law, human psychology, and the current situation and family politics. This allowed us to realize God's call for spouses and to get answers to the relevant questions that we face in today's world, such as: "Why not contraception?"; "Why chastity (premarital, marital)?"; "What is behind homosexuality?"; "Why not divorce?"; "Why not in-vitro fertilization?" etc. We also received guidance for the implementation of the things we learned.
What is more, besides the intellectual studies, we had an opportunity to live in a community with many families that truly live their faith. We learned from them that the theory is possible in practice and how blessed they are in living according to the call of God. What we got from the MMF studies at the ITI is the foundation and direction for living our life in the faith as spouses, parents, and active members of the Church.
Studying at the ITI was one of the greatest gifts of God in my life. It changed my life profoundly. I enjoyed every moment on an academic and on a personal level. The seminar teaching method allowed me to discover theology with all the excitement of a researcher. Somehow it seems that there is a bodily sensation of the act of understanding, of “making it one’s own”! To the ITI I owe my certainty when I think about issues or discuss them. We were taught to understand where thoughts come from and what implications they have. Certainty is an important aspect of the quality of life.
At the ITI, I learned to recognise and to appreciate the beauty of great thoughts and writings. To the ITI, I owe many of my best friendships. There is a certain spirit of family in common faith and shared life which lasts.
Does all of this sound like an overstatement? It is not! But it is so wonderful, that in my three years at the ITI, I almost could not believe it myself each day.
My name is Martin McDonald. I am the first Welsh student at the ITI. The MMF program is packed with a broad range of classes allowing students to approach the study of marriage and family from almost every conceivable angle, including philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, history, law, teaching, and much more. I am convinced that after I graduate, I will return to my country with the necessary knowledge and skills that every Catholic needs to promote and defend marriage and family in a society which is becoming increasingly more hostile to it.
I believe that the ITI is a unique school in the world. It is a family in every sense of the word. Not only does it teach the truth and beauty of God’s design for marriage and family—it lives it to the fullness! I have learnt more about how holy, joyful, and fulfilling a rich Catholic family life can be from the families who live, work, and study at the ITI than I have in the classroom. It is also renowned for being the meeting place of many international couples. I, myself, have had the great joy of meeting my future wife, Rose Baklinski, from Canada there—and where better, than a school dedicated to marriage and family, to prepare for the vocation of marriage?