CELEBRATE YOUR MARRIAGE
Diocese offers programs, resources to nurture marriages

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Feb. 7, 2008

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and so is World Wide Marriage Day, which is observed annually on a Sunday close to the holiday. Sponsored by World Wide Marriage Encounter, World Wide Marriage Day will be celebrated Feb. 10.

Vera Ludwig, interim director of the Office of Adult and Family Ministries for the Diocese of Sioux City, said, "It is a celebration to honor husbands and wives as the head of family, as the basic unit of society. It salutes the beauty of their faithfulness, the sacrifice and joy in daily married life."

She said the marriage day can bring awareness to married couples of the importance of taking the time to nurture their relationship.

The Catholic Church is supportive of strengthening marriages, she noted, because the family is the domestic church. The domestic church impacts the local church and, ultimately, the universal church.

Bishops initiative

The U.S. bishops approved a multiyear National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage in November of 2004 and it was launched in 2005. Part of that initiative has centered on public awareness. They developed several resources to raise awareness including www.foryourmarriage.org - a Web site sponsored by the USCCB. The site contains a daily marriage tip, suggestions on how to care for your marriage, prepare for marriage, issues facing couples and more.

"The site contains a wealth of information about marriage," she said. "There are tips to strengthen and support marriages."

Marriages, Ludwig noted, are sometimes compared to a garden. They must be fed, weeded and nurtured for them to be fruitful and long-lasting.

"It is important to acknowledge the significance and role of the domestic church and support them in the jobs they must do," she said. "As a diocese, we must also support husbands and wives in their marriage."

Love Never Ends

She pointed out that the Adult and Family Ministries Board recognized the need to offer support to marriages so they sponsored a marriage enrichment training centered on the program titled Love Never Ends. It was designed to train couples who would then take that program back to their own parishes.

One couple that participated in that training last fall was Don and Amy Mensen of St. Lawrence Parish in Carroll. They will present a Love Never Ends program for three consecutive weeks in their parish with Dennis and Shirley Molitor, who also attended the training.

"It provides a chance to hear how other married couples handle issues in their marriage and how they keep their marriage alive," said Don Mensen. "It gives you a chance to step back and get out of your day-to-day routine of life and talk about things that normally don't get brought up."

He mentioned that they will adapt the Love Never Ends program from the original format to include more time in group sharing - to benefit from the wisdom and experiences of others.

While registration deadline has passed for the upcoming sessions in his parish, he anticipated that they will try to offer it again in the future.

Rose Behrens, a member of the AFM board, has helped facilitate the Love Never Ends training. She will be among the presenters of the Love Never Ends sessions to be hosted March 1, 8 and 15 in Manning. It is open to area parishioners as well.

She was the one who brought the Love Never Ends concept to the attention of the Office of Adult and Family Ministries as a result of her involvement in Marriage Encounter. It was leaders in the World Wide Marriage Encounter who developed this resource - Love Never Ends - which centers on: refreshing marriage, parents, love life, leisure and work, faith, children, money, doing my part, issues and wedding anniversary.

At the Manning sessions, couples will have the opportunity to focus on communication with their spouse privately on several different topics. Couples will have the opportunity to share with other committed couples who value marriage.

Love Never Ends is also being presented in other parishes of the diocese as a Lenten enrichment opportunity.

After attending a Marriage Encounter and seeing the value in couples taking the time to enrich their relationships, Father Brian Danner, pastor at St. Malachy in Madrid and St. John's in Ogden, invited couples to present Love Never Ends in his parish.

Offered one evening, he described it as a "miniature" Marriage Encounter experience.

"Whatever we can do at the parish-level to strengthen marriages is a good thing because it challenges couples to re-think about their marriage," said Father Danner. "Without time set aside to reflect, it doesn't happen often enough."

He would like to bring that back to his parish again and said he would encourage parishes to "consider working beyond their own parish - to work with neighboring parishes and possibly working across diocesan lines in order to promote couples marriages in Christ."

With high divorce rates and the many distractions that lure the faithful away from married life - secularism and individualism - the need to strengthen marriages, noted Father Danner, is more important today than even to maintain strong marriages.

Ludwig noted that she and the AFM board are currently evaluating when the next Love Never Ends training will be offered. She said if a couple has interest to facilitate a gathering in their own parish, she suggested they speak with their pastor. They may also call her to see what training opportunities are available.

"There is a real hunger out there and a real need for opportunities like these," noted Ludwig. "This is not for troubled marriages, it is designed to make good marriages even better."

In previous years, the diocese did offer retreats for married couples and they are presently evaluating options in this area.

The Office of Adult and Family Ministries also has resources available for couples or parishes to use for marriage enrichment. Many of these are video series that cover various topics ranging from empty nesters to 10 great dates to revitalize a marriage. For more information, contact the office at (712) 233-7530 or (712) 233-7532.