Parish Marriage Missionaries Gathering
On June 24th we held a potluck Parish Marriage Missionaries Summer Gathering at the Pina’s beautiful home!
It was wonderful to be together with participants from each weekend that we have run! We know many others wanted to attend but were out of town–we missed you and look forward to our next gathering.
We asked couples to share “graces” from the weekend. Many commented on the gift it was to their faith and marriage, other on how nice it was to be with other like-minded couples and how much that has inspired them in their faith and marriage. We heard frequently how much the “stages of marriage” was helpful, helping to bring perspective and consolation for them personally and when helping others in ministry. We also heard that the theological formation was very helpful as well as the practical relationship skills.
Many couples have started or maintained ministry in their parish. One couple shared that they have helped with their Spanish speaking group and the pastor has asked them to start an English speaking group. Another couple shared that they are working in “remote marriage preparation” (that is youth ministry) and that they feel called to do this as a couple for this age group. We also heard of a couple, unable to attend, who ran a Wine and Cheese Date Night at the parish and, out of 22 couples present, two remained after to say they were not married in the Church but were interested to do so. One couple shared that they were able to get their pastors’ permission to bring a couple from Retrouvaille to make an announcement after mass about their ministry.
Fr. Ed Riley, a priest from the Archdiocese of Boston (who was here visiting) was able to join us and offer a brief meditation on living as faith-filled couples. It was very inspiring!
We ended with conversation regarding our ideas to create an army of “Apostles for Marriage.” Stay tuned for more on what this is and for our Advent retreat day!
