INTRODUCTIONS
Time To Tune In
Welcomes the couples and lets them introduce themselves. It gives the nuts and bolts concerning the facility, the time schedule and the teams' availability. The conclusion is an invitation to take advantage of this time together to prepare for a lifetime commitment. All that you write and what you discuss will be private.
ENCOUNTER WITH ME
God Doesn't Make Junk
Lets each individual know that they must accept and love themselves as uniquely created by God before being able to love and accept another. The talk provides the means for discovering "who I am" and is the only talk on the weekend directed to the individual, as opposed to the couple.
ENCOUNTER WITH WE
Love Is A Decision
Describes the constantly recurring cycle of romance, disillusionment and joy that all couples experience in their relationship. It demonstrates that love does not depend on feelings, but is a decision based on responsibility and commitment that the couple must make every day. Deciding to love, regardless of feelings, illustrates the true joy of love.
OPENNESS IN COMMUNICATION
Arguing Can Be Healthy
Encourages the couple, through the team's examples, to be more open, to trust, to risk and to accept each other. It demonstrates that openness is the key to communication. Revealing themselves to each other and believing in each other's goodness brings them closer. Arguments will arise. This talk gives valuable suggestions for disagreeing lovingly and resolving conflicts.
SIGNS OF A CLOSED RELATIONSHIP
Will They Change After Marriage?
Examines how preconceived ideas of marriage can affect a relationship.
Marriage is not just living together. It is a growing relationship, day by day, that calls for a lifelong commitment to become totally involved with each other.
CALLED TO BE ONE
Unity Is Our Goal
Sees marriage as a vocation, a sacred call from God to love one another uniquely, totally and irrevocably. Through the team's examples, the couples learn that striving for oneness, not happiness, is the goal of marriage. The vocation of marriage can be challenging and the more we strive for unity the more we reflect God.
MARRIAGE MORALITY
What Life-Giving Means
Spells out the practical consequences of viewing marriage as a vocation. Marriage morality consists in being life-giving, in accord with the ideal established by Jesus: "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly". This contrasts with the negative approach to morality which emphasizes prohibitions. Instead of observing a contract, couples are asked to live the covenant of marriage.
DECISIONS IN MARRIAGE
Applying Life-Giving Principles
Gives many practical examples of making moral (life-giving) decisions in the areas of relationship with each other, God, parents and friends. It also covers decision-making regarding career, work, roles, money and time together. A guide for making life-giving decisions is suggested in the form of five steps: Prayer, Discernment, Mutual Agreement, Mutual Responsibility and Re-Evaluation.
SEX AND SEXUALITY
A God-Given Gift
Helps the engaged to understand that sex and sexuality are part of God's plan for husband and wife to become more human and more expressive of God's goodness. The team emphasizes that sex is part of our overall relationship; the most intimate form of communication we have and not just an isolated activity. Our sexuality is a God-given gift to be shared between a married couple in a life-giving and responsible manner.
The talk, concludes with a description of the deeper dimension of our sexuality. This is the mystery of our attraction to a specific individual, rather than just the physical attraction to the opposite sex. The spiritual attraction that bonds us to one person as our intimate partner for life is the deeper dimension of marital unity intended by God.
BECOMING A FAMILY: OUR LOVE REFLECTED AS LIFE
Embracing Christian Values
Focuses on three main concepts:
The couple becomes a family at marriage and is invited to regard new life as a gift from God and to welcome the responsibility of being good parents. Natural Family Planning (NFP) is introduced. Children add new roles of mother and father to that of wife and husband. Relationships with children will go through the same stages of romance, disillusionment and joy that couples find in their own relationship. The couples will realize that their unique family will be formed by the selecting and integrating of values and traditions from their individual family backgrounds.
TEACHING MASS
A view of the mass.
This gives the priest and couples a chance to dialogue on the mass. This is an opportunity for converts, cradle Catholics and people of other faiths to better understand the mass and Catholicism in general.
GROUP DISCUSSION SESSION
Here's What I Think
Provides an informal setting for the couples to discuss the many concerns that arise in the minds, including questions about birth control, finances, careers, in-laws, pre-marital sex, inter-faith marriage, etc. This free flowing exchange of information and opinions often helps clear the air on many misconceptions about the teaching and policy of the Church.
PRAYER SERVICE
An Experience Of Community
Concludes the Discussion Session on a prayerful note with a candle-light service which expresses the importance of each couple to the entire community of faith.
WEDDING: THE BEGINNING OF OUR SACRAMENT
Our Love Is A Sign Of God's Love
Helps the engaged couples be aware that they are to become a Sacrament of the Church. A married couple gives personal examples of the beauty of living out their Sacrament daily. It is here that our motto, "A Wedding is a Day, A Marriage is a Lifetime", is personified. This talk is as much an expression of our faith as it is an expression of our intimate relationship. We are not separate and self-sufficient. We are dependent on the moral and spiritual support of the people of the Church who touch our lives.
BETROTHAL
Are We Ready?
Helps the engaged couples begin to understand that their Sacrament is a call to become part of the Church. The team illustrates the difference between preparation for a wedding day (engagement) and preparation for a lifetime of marriage (betrothal).
This talk encourages the couples to:
TWO BY TWO
Love One Another
Informs the engaged that they can't limit their love to only each other. We are inspired by Luke's Gospel, Chapter 10: "After this the Lord chose 12 others and sent them out two by two to go before Him". Practical examples demonstrate how we are commanded by Jesus to reach out to others, our family, neighbors, work colleagues, the lonely, the needy etc. The couples are encouraged to register and participate in their parish and to volunteer to help Church or other charitable organizations.
PLANNING A LIFE-GIVING MARRIAGE
My Plan Vs Our Plan
Helps the engaged to sort out their goals and priorities as individuals and then come together to begin planning their goals and priorities as a couple. In doing so they are encouraged to be open to God's plan for them as a couple.
FORGIVENESS IN MARRIAGE
Forgive Us As We Forgive Others
Shows the necessity of asking for forgiveness and forgiving one another in the day-to-day hurts that we all inflict on each other. It is more than saying "I'm sorry". When a couple is able to recognize the need for reconciliation and experience the grace of healing, they are acknowledging their belief in God and their love for one another.
SHARING THE VISION
Time, Talent and Treasure
Invites the engaged to share in our vision of marriage preparation. It gives them the opportunity to make a life-giving decision in committing a part of themselves (time, talent or treasure) to the Engaged Encounter ministry.