Each month during our Marriage-Building year there will be one weekend designated as a Marriage-Building Sunday. If your anniversary falls within that month, please plan to attend any of the weekend Masses for a special prayer for marriage.
Our final MBP Sunday will be June 29th & 30th. In addition to the marriage blessing for couples celebrating an anniversary in June, ALL couples attending Mass will be invited to renew their marriage vows as we conclude our year of marriage enrichment!
Celebrate Marriage
Implementing Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan
A Pastoral Letter of the USCCB
"As the first Christian families were islands of faith in their time, so Catholic families today are called to be becons of faith, 'centers of living, radiant faith.'"
In 2005 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began the National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage to call attention to the meaning and value of married life for the Church and for society. Bringing Catholic belief into dialogue with contemporary needs, the bishops urge the Catholic Church to become a community of hope and help for marriages and to join others in building a culture of marriage. The goals set forth by the Bishops are threefold: to restore and promote the sanctity of marriage and family across the U.S., to promote more and better ministries to marriage, particularly in parishes, and to help couples themselves witness to the value of marriage.
Approved on November 17, 2009 by the Bishops, Marriage: Love & Life in the Divine Plan is a pastoral letter offering guidance on how to carry out these goals. "The vision of married life and love that we have presented in this pastoral letter is meant to be a foundation and reference point for the many works of evangelization, catechesis, pastoral care, education and advocacy carried on in our dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies, movements and programs," says the document's closing section, called a "commitment to ministry." > Read Full Letter
St. John the Evangelist has designated July 2012 to June 2013 as our inaugural year to become a Marriage-Building Parish. Using 8 building blocks that were outlined by the Bishops in their letter, SJE's Catholic Family Institute has identified several ways to illustrate what it means to be a marriage-building parish. Explore our goals and action items using the building block links at left. We'll be calling on the entire congregation to help transform SJE into a marriage-building parish! Please complete the Volunteer Opportunities Survey if you have not done so already.
As the family is the primary setting for the transmission of faith, the Marriage-Building Parish Initiative will be tied closely to the Year of Faith (October 2012 - November 2013). Fostering a commitment to reading and understanding the richness of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with an emphasis on the Creed, across all age groups and in the home will be the primary link between the two initiatives.
Approved on November 17, 2009 by the Bishops, Marriage: Love & Life in the Divine Plan is a pastoral letter offering guidance on how to carry out these goals. "The vision of married life and love that we have presented in this pastoral letter is meant to be a foundation and reference point for the many works of evangelization, catechesis, pastoral care, education and advocacy carried on in our dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies, movements and programs," says the document's closing section, called a "commitment to ministry."