For Jose & Marilyn and Fr. Mitch, the Weekend is not a moment in time – it is the first step in a journey, a step that can help to heal the brokenness in today’s society one couple at a time.
Jose and Marilyn experienced their weekend in 1996 in Fayetteville, NC. Jose worked for IBM until his retirement. After their move to Austin in 1999, Jose & Marilyn helped form a parish-based marriage ministry team. They have also helped promote strong marriages throughout the diocese of Austin. Fr Mitch attended the weekend in 1992 in Morristown, NJ. He is a Canon Lawyer, currently working as Director of Lay Ministry Formation for the Archdiocese of Newark.
“We want to improve communications across all levels of our movement and with the Universal Church” said Jose & Marilyn. Fr. Mitch added that it is important “to establish cross-cultural personal relationships among the communities in Canada and the United States. These relationships will help us to be open to one another as we move forward together.”
The Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement is in over 90 countries worldwide, with over 6000 presenting couples and 1200 presenting priests. With a forty year history of helping to enrich marriages by teaching a communication technique that helps couples to keep their focus through the ups and downs of life, Worldwide Marriage Encounter is considered by many the first marriage enrichment program in the Catholic Church.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends start on Friday evening and end on Sunday afternoon. Participants hear presentations by a couple and a priest and later write their thoughts and feelings which they share in the privacy of their room. There is no group discussion. Weekends are held in various locations, including hotels and retreat centers.
There is a cost for the weekend, but in the four decades of Worldwide Marriage Encounter, no couple has ever been turned away from attending a weekend because of lack of money.
Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a non-profit organization and all donations from the weekend are used to continue offering additional weekends throughout the country and the world.
Married couples who want to learn more about making their “good marriages, better” can find Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends that are presented all over the United States.
To learn more about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends you can go online to www.wwme.org or call 1-800-795-LOVE or contact the WWME office at (909) 863-9963.
