April 1985 – As Huey Lewis and the News was singing “The Power of Love” on the radio and Back to the Future was the highest grossing film, a Catholic parish in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, Arizona, gathered teens for its first Life Night. The ministry now known as Life Teen was designed to bring youth together to grow in their love for Jesus Christ through the beauty of the Catholic faith. One of its hallmarks is to help teens understand how practicing their faith can be deeper than ritual. The power of the Eucharist and Sacraments is meant to draw people into deep love and relationship with Christ. And a person’s never too young to find the joy and peace of walking in love with their Lord and Savior.

Mark Hart was fortunate to grow up in the Phoenix area as Life Teen was gaining momentum. Raised in a traditional Catholic family but not taught to open the Bible himself, Mark missed the deep heart connection with Christ he didn’t even know his soul was longing for. Life Teen introduced a new perspective and helped Mark fall in love with the Lord and the Catholic Church.

Mark began digging more deeply into his faith under the encouragement of his Life Teen-trained youth minister. Senior year, Mark was brave enough to wear a youth retreat t-shirt proclaiming Jesus, Jesus, JESUS at his public high school. It was on that day that he met the woman who would eventually become his wife – although their paths diverged before they married years later. Rather than tease him about his fashion choice, Melanie liked Mark’s shirt and its message. The two started attending Mass together and were inseparable the summer after graduation. But Mark had already committed to attend college at Notre Dame – thousands of miles away. Their lives went different directions, and they briefly married others. Mark even attended Melanie’s first wedding, a day he describes as the worst of his life.

Mark and Melanie reconnected after their marriages were annulled and recently celebrated their 20th anniversary. Mark had been called to work as a Life Teen youth minister at his original parish after graduating from Notre Dame. Initially he attempted to defer; Mark had planned to work in broadcasting. When he reminded his pastor he did not have a theology degree, the man answered, “Mark, I can teach theology to someone who loves teenagers, but I can’t teach a theologian to love youth.”

Mark bargained with the Lord – said he’d give it a year. That was 30 years ago. Mark has devoted his career to Life Teen International, most recently serving as Chief Innovation Officer. He describes his role as being able to “parachute into meetings of all the teams to figure out creative, fun ways to engage Gen Z and Gen Alpha and introduce them to the person of Jesus. I work with wonderfully, creative, talented and holy people,” he said.

More than a million teens and adults attend a Life Night, Edge Night, or Purpose Confirmation Session each week; join Life Teen at Summer Camp, a Steubenville Youth Conference, or the Life Teen Leadership Conference; participate in a weekly Youth Mass, and/or interact with the ministry on social media. The movement continues to grow and now involves nearly 2,000 parishes in 24 countries, according to Life Teen.

Mark’s work at Life Teen has allowed him to become a bestselling author of over 30 books, an award-winning producer, a popular radio host on SiriusXM, and one of the most sought-after speakers serving in the Catholic Church today.

“I never intended to be a writer,” he said. Mark began developing a scripture reflection with teenagers in mind under the name “Bible Geek.” The Bible study was originally meant for youth in his own church. “A lot of us were never taught to read the scriptures,” he said. At that time the idea of communicating through email or a website was novel and new. The kids kept asking for more and sharing his emails, and the small study grew to 60,000 subscribers by the first year.

The collection became Ask the Bible Geek: Fascinating Answers to Intriguing Questions, originally published in 2003 then revised and re-released in 2015. As he and Melanie’s relationship continued to evolve from newlyweds to parents, he kept writing books for different age groups. Their work in particular helping formation for engaged couples led them to write Embracing God’s Plan for Marriage: A Bible Study for Couples (Word Among Us Keys to the Bible), which was published in 2012.

The book is designed to help couples take specific passages from the Bible pertaining to marriage and open them in a way that speaks to Catholics. Mark stressed that while many books contain scientific data and good theology, he wanted to concentrate on practical life application.

The staff at Word Among Us Press surveyed readers of their magazine and “found that they were looking for easy-to-understand, faith-filled materials that approach Scripture from a clearly Catholic perspective. Moreover, they wanted a Bible study that would show them how they could apply what they learn from Scripture to their everyday lives,” from the book’s welcome page.

“When you are raising kids and working so hard, you need something simple and bite sized,” Mark said. He and Melanie also wanted to write something that a couple could work on together and that would appeal to both a husband and wife.

“Marriage is one of God’s most beautiful gifts and is intended to bless us, fulfill us, and give us a path to sanctity. Understanding what true love entails and how grace works to overcome our wounded human nature is the key to a holy, happy, and passionate marriage. In this six-session Bible study, popular author and speaker Mark Hart and his wife, Melanie, help couples understand key Scripture passages that illuminate the truths about married love and the ‘two becoming one flesh’ (see Genesis 2:24). By undertaking this study, couples will grow in their understanding of sacramental marriage so they can reflect God’s plan and glory and become a witness for Christ’s sacrificial love for each of us,” as described on Amazon.

Each of the six sessions includes questions that help a couple understand the passage, think about its meaning, and respond with action. “In the Spotlight” sections highlight stories of real-life couples.

“We hand-picked couples we knew whose marriages we respected,” Mark said. “We looked for those who honor each other with the way they speak, who are affectionate with each other.” Their goal was also to provide a resource the couple could do together, so one or the other wouldn’t feel like they were being left behind spiritually. “I am so happy when we see and meet other couples who have made God the center of their marriage. You can see it in the way they look at each other, see it when the storm clouds come, and waves rise. It always breaks my heart to see couples who don’t have that common faith language to draw and keep them together.

“That’s one place people go wrong. They think marriage is just about a man and a woman. It’s a man and a woman and God. The three-ply cord is not easily broken,” Mark said. “We want to help couples assess where their relationship is and get back on the same footing.” He also warned couples to expect spiritual opposition when they start praying together or working through a resource.

“When you seek to do good, you have a target painted on your back,” he said. “The devil is going to mess with couples who are trying to deepen their vows. Pain points will pop up. But that’s ok – Jesus wants to heal our iniquities. We can learn to verbalize our interior struggles and trust in the mercy and compassion of our spouse. Love isn’t blind. Love sees 20/20 but can be grown every day.”

Chapters also include teaching from John Paul II, who holds a special place in Mark and Melanie’s heart, as he blessed their marriage during a private audience in Rome just prior to his death. Having Pope John Paul II’s blessing was one of the best perks of working in ministry for decades, Mark said. He noted the event included a 500-yard dash carrying Melanie through Vatican Square dressed in full wedding regalia – not because he was “that romantic,” but because her high heels prevented her walking over the cobblestones in a timely manner. “She was like a giraffe on ice,” he recounted. “We were going to be late – for an audience with the POPE! I scooped her up and ran. Tourists were taking pictures.”

Fifteen years and four children later, Mark and Melanie collaborated on the short book, Getting More Out of Marriage, published in 2019. This time, Melanie played a more active role, with Mark transcribing many of Melanie’s insights to include in the book.

“By the time Mark helped turn this mom’s ramblings, thoughts, and reflections into coherent sentences. I was grateful we had agreed to do this,” Melanie wrote in the book’s introduction. “Ladies, … I hope this little book blesses both your heart and your ongoing communication with your husband, and I pray he will be open to it and to you. Guys, I hope you are always open to listening to the needs of your wife’s heart, even if she doesn’t always communicate them the right way. I know I don’t.”

“It was a joy to work on it together,” Mark said. “Melanie is so wise, with a wonderful gift for counsel.”

Chapters include rediscovering the sabbath, prayer, guarding priorities, active listening, sacrifice and specific prayers for Catholic couples. Mark and Melanie also offer a free-online video introduction (wau.org/faithseries) to set the stage for couples or small groups. 

“Marriage is one of God’s most beautiful gifts and is intended to bless us, fulfill us, and give us a path to sanctity. Understanding what true love entails and how grace works to overcome our wounded human nature is the key to a holy, happy, and passionate marriage. In this six-part study, Mark and Melanie Hart share insights on how God wants to work in our marriages and make them go from bad to good, from good to great, or even from great to excellent,” Amazon describes.

Best practices for couples the Harts share: Never stop dating. “There’s a profoundness in that simplicity,” Mark said. “Date nights are some of my favorite nights of the week! Have in-house date nights if you have to. Never become ships that pass in the night.”

He also recommends couples develop a rhythm of praying with each other, not just for each other. “Prayer is more intimate than sex,” he said. “You are baring your soul. People hijack the word intimate – it came from the Latin to make the innermost known. If you go back to Genesis, man was created from the exterior. Women were made from the interior. Men talk about accomplishments, women about feelings. They become one when they pray together. That’s what makes physical intimacy and all of life better.”

Mark also explains why the Catholic Church requires a sacramental marriage take place before an altar in the church. The altar is where the “timeless sacrifice of Jesus’ body and Blood is made present to us,” he wrote. “The Church understands that if a marriage is to succeed, the man and woman must understand what true sacrifice is and what it actually requires. Sacrifice means laying your life down for one another.”

He and Melanie agree every home, likewise, contains altars of sacrifice – whether it’s the dinner table where families eat together, the coffee table where people gather and have conversations or the marriage bed as an altar of self-gift.

“We can view our homes as domestic churches with altars of sacred spaces,” he said. “Keeping the Sabbath is so much more than just checking the box to go to church. The way we keep it holy changes the course of the week.”

Mark stresses that even though he and Melanie work and minister together as they raise their family, their lives are not perfect.

“We are such a mess!” he said. “We shared our failures in the book, Our Not-Quite-Holy Family: A Practical Guide for Catholic Parents. We are a stunning example of what not to do. Knowing the Lord means knowing mercy – he can love a sinner like me and a mess like us.”

One of their stories describes a time when the children were small. Exhausted from a terrible work trip travel day, Mark stumbled in the door – on Valentine’s Day. The first thing he noticed was the mess – flowers on the ground, markers and paper scattered about. He felt his temper rising until he noticed Melanie, wearing something different than her usual baggy pajamas, was offering him a glass of wine. The flowers were petals strewn purposefully on the floor. The papers were signs saying happy Valentine’s Day … and the kids were at Grandma’s for the night. Thankfully, Mark had held his tongue long enough to recognize the blessing being offered him in the chaos.

Another story recounts a hoped-for second honeymoon in Maui when Melanie was able to accompany Mark on a speaking engagement at no cost. Instead of the romantic day they had planned, they were awakened by an earthquake and Tsunami warning! It was a poignant reminder from God that all they really needed was each other and him. “We didn’t know if we were going to ever see our kids again or die there on the beach,” Mark said. “But we realized, ‘If this is how we were going to go, this is how we’d want to do it. Hand-in-hand with our best friend.’”

Mark encourages couples to get back to laughing. “Everyone is stressed and angry all the time!” he said. “People don’t laugh any more. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. The calling card of a Christian should be joy! Atheists don’t do as much damage to the Church as joyless Christians. Find things you love to do together and do them. God laughs. He told Sarah to name her child Isaac, which means laughter.”

Inspiring people to laugh, and also to think, was the impetus behind Mark’s 2013 book Tweet Inspiration: Faith in 140 Characters (or Less). “When Twitter first started, I took it as a personal challenge to see if I could craft something tight enough that would interrupt a person’s feed and brighten their day with love, mercy, the Gospel.

“How can we use these new technologies to reach souls and to proclaim God’s unyielding truth from the ‘housetops?’” he wondered. It was an experiment with this form of social media.”

Mark explained he followed the example of Bishop Fulton Sheen in the way he embraced the new medium of television to share the love of God in the early 1950s. Bishop Sheen “was a masterful communicator. He didn’t just know the faith, he knew how to articulate it – in an unforgettable way, with passion and depth and undoubtedly with great humor…. Humor was a great tool used to tear down walls and build up souls,” Mark wrote in Tweet Inspiration’s introduction. After posting tweets regularly, his publisher asked him to compile them into the book.

“Tweet Inspiration is a compact treasury of inspiration, with a good dose of humor, gathered from Mark Hart’s extensive collection of tweets on faith and life in general. Scattered throughout the book are call-out boxes with Mark’s expanded thoughts and insights on various topics,” from the book’s description.

Here are some examples:

• The command to “love your enemies” (Lk 6:27) sure would be easier if we weren’t just starting football season. ;)

• You can usually tell by the look on someone’s face if they woke up counting their problems or their blessings. (James 1:17)

• Sssshhh. God is speaking. #Listen

As his kids have gotten older, Mark’s noticed them pulling the book out and highlighting different pages. “There’s a lot of wisdom here,” he said.

“Whether you have an active faith that needs to be strengthened or are seeking to establish contact with God for the first time, you will find something here to help you find the God who is already seeking you,” he wrote. And pertaining to marriage, Mark tweeted, “Marriage isn’t about finding someone you can ‘live with,’ but about celebrating someone you cannot live without.”