Family Ministry
Worldwide Marriage
Encounter (WWME) – WeekendsProgramme for Couples
“Love one another as I have loved
you”
Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a movement that helps couples
to live out their commitment of their profession of love they have made on the
wedding day. WWME is a pastoral ministry that would help married couples to
renew/to enrich/ to live the sacrament as a Christian family and to proclaim
the value of Marriage and Holy Orders in the Church and in the world. This
program is organized on weekends for the couples. I had attended the weekends
trainings and found it very useful to me. It may be useful for the other religious
who are all involved in the pastoral ministry and building their respective
religious communities. There are
enormous challenges to married life and commitment today. There are ups and
downs, joys and sorrows, success and disappointments in marriage. Pope Francis
said, “Marriage is not easy. It is never easy… but it is so beautiful… it is
beautiful.” The most beautiful part is when a man and woman pledge their love
for life. A movement like Worldwide Marriage Encounter helps to promote weekends
to enhance growth and happiness in married relationships and to make good
marriages great.
Divine Call is the Source of Inspiration for ME
My journey with WWME, is a great inspiration for me and
to know about Marriage encounter (ME) from the sharing by the couples. I have
seen many of the couples leading a holy life, showing good example for the
other couples, in the Church and more than that in their Marriage encounter
ministry. As I have seen their struggle in leading a holy life because they
have many challenges in the family living but they are together because they
have understood each other. It is a God’s gift that each and every member of ME
is called by God to bear witness as couples and to be a source of inspiration
for other couples. I feel that God called me through Mr. Dorairaj and Ms. Mary
Alphonsa to encounter the couples. It is a call within a call to do Marriage
encounter ministry as a Salesian of Don Bosco (SDB). I had the opportunity to
attend weekend programmes and have undergone many changes being a religious
priest living in communities.
HISTORY of WWME
The
Marriage Encounter movement dates back to the late 1950s. In Barcelona, a newly
ordained
Spanish priest was challenged by a young couple who wanted to find a way to
serve
God
and man within their marriage. Marriage
Encounter traces its roots to Spain. In working with young people in the
parish, the Diocesan Laborer priest Gabriel Calvo realized how important it is
for the growth and upbringing of children that their parents must live in
harmony. He designed an instrument that would facilitate and deepen dialogue
between the husband and wife and to strengthen the "I will" that they
bear in their hearts. This was presented as a weekend retreat in Spain in 1962.
In 1967, the experience reached the United States of America through the
Christian Family Movement. In the New York area, the "marriage encounter
weekends" were standardized and enriched by a number of married couples
and by the Jesuit priest Fr. Chuck Gallagher. Soon these weekends were being
presented in the ten most Catholic cities in the United States. The New York
branch of the movement became known as Worldwide Marriage Encounter after the
international expansion began in 1972.
IDENTITY
The movement exists to help
married couples live their relationship intimately and responsibly; to
understand and better their role within the Church. The foundational experience
is the Worldwide Marriage Encounter retreat animated by the testimony of three
married couples and a priest who deal with various aspects of daily living.
Participants learn to communicate at a deeper level using the technique of
dialogue. Priests and religious who wish to authentically live their own
vocation may also participate. There is community support to continue the
dialoguing lifestyle and to provide further formation. The movement fosters the
integration of married couples and families into the parishes which encourages
them to use their sacramental love for service in the Church and in the world.
Worldwide
Marriage Encounter India
In 1970, Fr. Peter de Sousa, a Redemptorist Priest who was
sent to the United States for a course in Psychology and Counseling happened to
do a weekend and was inspired to carry that dream to India. He came down with a
young couple, Pat and Dick Lexandro with two infant boys, to initiate the
movement in India. Bangalore was the hub from where the movement was carried to
the other cities and towns across India. Later it was translated in the
vernacular and now there are weekends in English, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam
and soon may be in Bengali and Telugu.
Importance of a
Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends
Couples and priests are invited to take part in a marriage
encounter weekend which is set in a loving atmosphere. It is designed to help
married couples communicate more intimately with each other in order to deepen
and enrich their relationship. We all live in a very busy world, constantly on
the move from one activity to another and very often do not have time for our
spouse or ourselves.
A marriage encounter weekend helps a couple to be together
alone, to be away from all the distractions, to take time out, to focus on their
relationship and to reconnect with the spouse. The effect of the weekend will
leave a couple renewed in their commitment, restore communication and rekindle
romance in their married relationship. The weekend fans the flames of the amber
of love and leaving a couple refreshingly all over in love again. In the
marriage encounter we believe that a couple does not ‘need’ a weekend but
rather ‘deserves’ a weekend because they are spending the time for the most
important and precious relationship with their spouse. It reminds them of how
special a couple’s love is for each other and how strong they can grow
together.
Continual
Renewal of Love
WWME VISION
WWME
MISSION
To
proclaim the values of Marriage and Holy Orders in the Church and in the world
CHARISM
The
Charism of worldwide marriage encounter is “faith through Relationship’
ORGANISATION
WWME is governed at every level (local, diocesan, regional, national) by
Ecclesial Teams made up of a priest and a married couple. At the worldwide
level, the movement is coordinated by the International Ecclesial Team,
assisted by six Ecclesial Teams who represent the existing Secretariats for
Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Pacific.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter is present in 90 countries as
follows: Africa (15), Asia (13), Europe (26), North America (12), Pacific (4),
and Latin America (20).
FOUR PILLARS
1.
Community 2. Structure 3. Weekend 4. Presenting Team
PUBLICATIONS
‘Prime Time’ WWME Magazine -
quarterly publications at the national level in India
Marriage
Encounter for Couples
Worldwide
Marriage Encounter offers a weekend experience designed to give married couples
the opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication that they can use
for the rest of their lives. It's a chance to look deeply into their
relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share their feelings,
hopes and dreams with each other.
The
emphasis of the Marriage Encounter weekend is on the communication between
husbands and wives. The weekend provides a conducive environment for couples to
spend time together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life,
while encouraging them to focus on each other and their relationship.
It's
not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity, or a substitute for
counseling. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Marriage.
This is a time for husband and wife to
be alone together, to rediscover each other and together focus on their
relationship for an entire weekend. Every marriage deserves such a kind of
attention and should be built up in their respective family living.
Marriage
Encounter for Priest
As
a priest, the individual may have promoted WWME among the parishioners and may
be aware of Worldwide Marriage Encounter’s
effectiveness in bringing couples closer together and often transforming or even
saving marriages. The weekends are
designed in such a way that both priests and religious can participate fully.
The principles of love, commitment and effective communication translate quite
easily to the relationships they have with everyone with whom they have
dedicated their life to serving. This new way of communication is both specific
and adaptable. Any one will be able to use it in virtually to every
relationship and situation. Priests who have made a weekend recall the
experience as “life enhancing.” WWME invites the diocesan or religious priest
to take part in this weekend programme and became a team priest to give
weekends.
Purpose of Marriage Encounter
The purpose of Marriage Encounter is to assist a couple to discover their marriage through ongoing mutual trust and dialogue. This unique method of dialogue means prayerful, personal reflection and mutual sharing, which leads to the enrichment of themarital relationship and growth of the man and woman as individuals and as a couple. With the family as the fundamental cell of society and the married couple as the heart of the family, the Marriage Encounter experience strengthens families and communities. Marriage Encounter respects and supports the couples as they discover their own dignity, uniqueness, and creativity. It is essential that married couples continually strive to discover the presence and action of God in their individual and family lives, according to their own beliefs. Marriage Encounter follow-up programs enable couples to continue their growth.
Covai
UCT Photo with National Ecclesial Team (NET) couple and priest Mr.John & Ms.
Wendy Fr. Rubert Arulvalan
My Encounter in Marriage Encounter (ME)
I came to know about
this WWME from Mr. Dorairaj &
Ms. Alphonsa and I joined this programme by
attending
Weekend programme at Coiambatore and
Sayathurai. It was a
wonderful experience to see the
commitment of the couples in the training.
This movement has also encouraged the
priest and religious to take part in further training and to join the team. I had the chance to attend this programme and
my religious community witnessed the fruits of the training. Therefore my Salesian
community encouraged me to take part in this ME Programme. I organized the weekend programme at Don Bosco
NEST with ME (Marriage Encounter) – UCT (Unit coordinating team) team couples Mr.
Dorairaj & Alphonsa and Mr. Lawerence & Rosline and Fr. Rosario ME team
priest for Coimbatore Diocese. In that
Weekend programme seven couples participated and three couples completed the
training.
Coimbatore Diocese Marriage Encounter Team UCT
Priest -2, couples -2
Mr.
Dorairaj&Alphonsa – UCT
Mr.
Lawerence&Rosline – Secretary
Fr. Rosario - UCT -Team Priest
Fr. Arul kumar SDB –
Team priest
Weekends Programme Attended
Original Weekend: 2–
1.
St. Antony’s Church,Vadavalli Coimbatore
Deeper Weekend: Loyola
Retreat Center, Pune
Mr.John and Ms. Wendy along with Fr. Abhay S.J gave training in deeper WE at Pune from the
28th of Feb to 1st March. It was a very an enriching experience for me to be
with couples and priests in the deeper training. Fr. Abhay’s animated us in a
creative way to get the responses from us. Four couples and Five priests made
the journey in this deeper weekend and were commissioned to take the light of
ME to every corners of the world.
Conferences
WWME
National Conference at Tiruchy – Oct 2018
The 39th WWME National conference was
held at Pune from 27th to 30th October 2019 and it was a witness to selfless
love, dedication, commitment and unity among the Pune Team couples. National Conference was attended by
representatives from 11 Units from all over India. The Pune teams were one in heart
and mind and worked very hard to host the meeting. The theme was ‘Call to
Holiness’ which dwelt on the formation of the couples and it was presented by
NET. Rt. Rev. Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Pune presided over the inaugural mass and
graced the opening ceremony with his presence. Fr. Milton Gonsalves, Secretary
of the CCBI Family Commission also participated in the meeting. It was a time
of sharing of the joys and sorrows as we reported our efforts to renew the
church through Marriage Encounter Weekends and other programmes.
Elected as the RET (Regional Ecclesial Team) priest in Tamil Nadu – Feb
2020
In
the Pune conference we had decided to have a meeting at Chennai because there
was vacancy in the leadership at the regional level and the need to elect the
RET. We organized the meeting as we had planned in Chennai with the help of Fr.
Andrew and Mr. Charles & Catherine UCT. In that meeting we had elected RET
couples and priest. They unanimously elected me as the Regional Ecclesial Team
Priest (RET).
In Detail
Report of ME Programme at Chennai
We had two days ME programme at
Pastoral centre, Santhome, in Chennai on 8th and 9th Feb 2020. The
programme commenced with Holy Spirit song followed by prayer. UCTs from
Chennai, Trichy, and Tuticorin with ME couples and Priests attended the
programme. Fr ARULKUMAR SDB also attended from Coimbatore unit. Focus had
been given to sort out the difference that prevailed among the couples in
RET. There was an open and free discussion and the past
misunderstanding were sorted out.
Present
Planning
for the Marriage Encounter Weekend Programme with Team
Weekend
Programme Organized at Don Bosco NEST Tirupur
Thanks to Salesian Community & Team Couple
I would like to thank
Don Bosco NEST community for supporting me to take forward this WWME programme
to the couples.
Pastoral Accompaniment
Pastoral care
must take the priority in the church and the couples have a special attention in this. We must be patient
and merciful to those who find themselves living in grave danger of breaking
their relationships. They are to be treated as Jesus did to the poor, weak,
suffering, and wounded. However, the pastoral priority, indicated by Amoris Laetitia
for the present time, is to prevent as far as possible wounds, divisions,
and marriage failures. “Today, more important than before, the pastoral care of
failures is the pastoral effort to strengthen marriages and thus to prevent
their breakdown” (AL 307; cf. ibid., 211).
We must confidently and patiently
develop organic family pastoral care,
including remote and immediate marriage preparation and, after the wedding, the
formation of the couple and especially the young spouses (cf. AL 200; 202; 207; 208; 227; 229; 230).
For this, personal closeness and family encounters, small groups and
communities are more beneficial than convoked assemblies and crowded meetings.
With this aim, it is necessary to promote the protagonism of the families
themselves and their missionary responsibility (“families which go forth”),
while emphasizing, among other things, the cooperation of movements and
ecclesial associations.
To Conclude …
Marriage Encounter couples share the incredible gift of
their “couple power” to the world around. Worldwide Marriage Encounter hopes to
reach out to many more married couples, priests and religious bringing Marriage
Encounter to many more countries and dioceses. May God continue to bless the
growth of Worldwide Marriage Encounter. When I did a Marriage Encounter weekend
it changed my perspective of my priesthood, it helped me to grow in the
conviction of being there for my people. In every weekend programme I had
experienced that I was rejuvenated and invariably at the end of the weekend programme
I could sense the energy and vibrancy of the entire atmosphere that had changed
because of the sharing of the participants. It is an amazing experience that
refuels and renews the love that God has placed in our hearts for Jesus himself
says, “Love one another as I have loved you,” and was expressed by giving his
life for his bride the Church.
As the e ME couples, priest and religious are chosen by God for a great mission to take forward the marriage encounter programme to the couples.
To help us help more couples in “your
parishes” learn about Marriage Encounter:
Call for Weekend programme
WWME
Pamphlets
Mass Talks/Information Table
WWME Information in your Parish Bulletin
WWME Information in your Parish Website
Contact
us : Fr. Arul kumar SDB, RET 8489891394 Jayakumar & Girija 9344217427
