This February 7-14, 2020, we will celebrate National Marriage Week! This annual observance is a great prompt for everyone to reflect on the gift marriage is to our Church and our country, as well as an opportunity for couples to build up their own marriages.

This year our theme is: Stories from the Domestic Church. Here’s how you can join us:

• Spend a little dedicated time in prayer and reflection by participating in our seven-day virtual retreat (available in pdf in English and Spanish) focused on marriage. This year the retreat theme is “Stories from the Domestic Church.” Sign up to receive the retreat via email during National Marriage Week 2020 here.
   
• Share our National Marriage Week Flyer, available in English and Spanish.
   
• Change your Facebook Cover Photo or share one of the images from our Social Media Kit.
   
• Encourage your parish to celebrate World Marriage Sunday (February 9, 2020), with a Preaching Resource for clergy or by sharing our flyer.
   
• Read Archbishop Cordileone’s Invitation to Celebrate National Marriage Week.
   
• Pray a rosary for married couples and families with us! Join us on Wednesday, February 12 at 3pm ET on the USCCB Facebook Page.
   
• Invite your diocesan or parish community to pray for marriage with these Prayers of the Faithful for National Marriage Week.
   

Resources to build up your marriage all year long:

• Listen to Marriage Unique for a Reason’s Made for Love Podcast, which tells the stories of real people living out the call to love. Here are some of our favorites episodes on marriage:
   
  • Episode 6: Real Marriage vs. the Ideal
     
  • Episode 10: Men & Women: Not Two Halves, but Two Wholes
     
  • Episode 51: Engagement: Planning a Wedding or a Marriage?
     
• Take a look at our Daily Marriage Tips. Maybe you’ll find a new idea to strengthen your relationship.
   
• Visit the website of Worldwide Marriage Encounter, which provides numerous resources for celebrating World Marriage Day.
   

The website for National Marriage Week offers helpful ideas for building up your own marriage, recommended reading, supporting marriage in the community and much more. There’s also a listing of marriage-building events throughout the country.

National Marriage Week USA, launched in 2010, is part of an international event seeking to mobilize individuals, organizations, and businesses in a common purpose to strengthen marriage in communities and influence the culture. For information and resources, visit: NationalMarriageWeekUSA.org. World Marriage Day was started in 1983 by Worldwide Marriage Encounter.
 

Additional "National Marriage Week" information

https://soundcloud.com/usccbclips/sets/made-for-love   (USCCB podcasts)

http://www.foryourmarriage.org/10-pointers-for-prayer/

http://www.foryourmarriage.org/just-wait-a-letter-from-a-newlywed-couple/
 

For questions about Marriage Preparation and Requirements within the Diocese of Dallas:
Mike Stratman, MPM
Associate Director of Family Life
Ph:214.379.2880

https://www.cathdal.org/Marriage_Ministry 

--

Source: usccb.org

Image Source: Zachary Poisal on Unsplash