4.3  Responsibilities of the Parish

Goal:   To assist married couples of the parish as they live out their vocation of marriage.

Guideline: Commit to developing a formalized strategy to assist the married couples to live out their vocation.

Discussion: Many couples are unsure of the steps and unaware of the available resources that would help them strengthen their marriage. Therefore a multifaceted strategy that includes regular, ongoing opportunities for marriage education and skills building should be a part of each parish’s mission. Offering resources and educational opportunities on a regular basis, in a variety of ways, will assist married couples to sustain their lifelong sacramental marriage.

·         Parish priests and deacons should preach about the sanctity of marriage several times throughout the year when the readings are deemed appropriate. Bulletin announcements about marriage provided by the Archdiocese should be published in the weekly bulletin.

·         Prayers for marriage and family should be included during the Prayers of the Faithful (see Appendix J).

·         Marriage enrichment/education opportunities should be offered throughout the year. These offerings could be done in collaboration with other local parishes or on a deanery basis. The Family Ministries Office offers “First Years and Forever” Continuing Education Workshops for the newly married. Couples may register online through the Family Ministries Website (see Appendix G).

·         Married couples, celebrating significant anniversaries, could renew their vows and/or be blessed at weekend liturgies as a sign of the importance of lifelong marriage.

·         Pro-marriage resources, such as Marriage magazine, Marriage Partnership magazine, and “Marriage Moments” perpetual calendar, etc., could be made available to married couples.

·         A listing of local area Christian, pro-marriage marriage counselors could be listed in the weekly bulletin.

·         Publicity about Marriage Encounter, Retrouvaille, Arusi^® Retreats, and other reputable marriage enrichment programs should be listed in the weekly bulletin.

·         A lending library that includes books, videos and magazines on faith development, conflict management, parenting, communication skills, spirituality of marriage, natural family planning, family of origin, etc., could be developed.

·         The formation of marriage community through support groups, mentoring programs, and special celebrations could be strongly encouraged.

Goal: To encourage parishioners, along with the pastor and pastoral ministers, to become involved in preparing engaged couples for marriage, in celebrating marriage, and in providing opportunities for the ongoing support of married couples.

Guideline: Recognize marriage as a vocation for the Church. Nurture the vocations of those who have entered married life. This can be done by inviting experienced married couples to mentor the engaged and newly married. Married couples should be invited to take part in the parish’s marriage preparation process as PreCana presenters or mentor couples. Another way to nurture marriage is by encouraging the development of ongoing marriage support groups.

Discussion: Marriage is a lifelong process of becoming that begins at birth and continues throughout life. The parish can be a resource for marriage enrichment and education for couples as they “become married.” Opportunities for mentoring, spiritual “companioning,” and encouraging should be nurtured by parish leaders.

Inviting married couples to serve as marriage preparation ministers calls upon them to serve the Church in specific ways through their marriage. Having an ongoing outreach of married couples ministering to other married couples fosters a like-to-like ministry and a mutually supportive community of marriage. Archdiocesan resources are available to assist parishes in doing this.