Diocese will run series of Seminars on The Joy of Love
“Does the Family continue to be good news for today’s world? I am sure the answer is yes! And this yes is firmly based on God’s plan.” – Pope Francis, March 2017
Pope Francis believes that in a world where humanity is often wounded, mistreated, and dominated by a lack of love, the family is the “yes” of God as Love. In spite of all the pressures and difficulties it faces, Pope Francis believes that the family is still good news for today’s world.
In his apostolic exhortation The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetetia), Pope Francis expresses his hope that families and those involved in supporting families will study his document carefully and patiently. This document was the fruit of the Synod of Bishops on the Family on October of 2014 and 2015. The document was published on April 2016.
Sadly, many of us here in CNMI (even Catholics) have never even heard that such a document exist. Indeed, not many bothers to read papal documents and therefore often we missed out on many inspiring messages of Pope Francis which are relevant to our daily and practical experiences.
In order to help our parishioners read and digest this papal document on the family life, the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa is launching a series of seminars in July and August. These seminars are an adaptation to Amoris Programme, which is one of the resources being used in preparation for the 2018 World Meeting of Families next month in Dublin, Ireland.
It invites participants to reflect on The Joy of Love, the document Pope Francis prepared after the two synods on the family and a worldwide consultation which took place before the synods. The Commission on Marriage and Family Life of the Diocese shall utilize and adopt this six-session program into a three-session series to help our married couples here in Saipan be familiarize with Amoris Laetetia and to apply this document to the practical lives of our local families.
The seminars will be on Saturdays of July 28th, August 11th and August 25th from 9:00 Am until 12 Noon. The venue is still to be determined. These seminars are intended primarily (for now) to those married couples (Sacramental).
These series of seminars will conclude with a Mass for the Families on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Mt. Carmel Cathedral at 10 AM. All those couples who have attended the seminars will have the opportunity to renew their Marriage vows in the presence of Bishop Ryan Jimenez who will preside the celebration.
In each session, the participants will be invited to take part in a process which is designed to be interactive and participative. They will be helped to reflect on and articulate their experience of family life and their response to Pope Francis’ reflections in The Joy of Love. The program takes, as its starting point, people’s experience of love and their hopes and fears with regard to marriage and family.
Using engaging short videos, animations and activities to encourage discussion, it will offer families, parishes and wider society an opportunity to think about our vision and hopes for family and marriage, and a chance to rediscover the gift that family is to the world.
The program will also challenge us to reflect on how we can provide greater support for marriage and family in our local communities. In particular, Pope Francis has asked us to think about support for newly married couples and outreach to families in need.
For those married couples who are interested, please register by informing your parish priests or call the Diocesan Commission on Marriage and Family Life at 234-300 Ext. 136. For more information you can also call Fr. Jason A. Granado at 989-3054.
