National Marriage Week to be celebrated February 7-14, 2017

National Marriage Week (February 7 - 14) is a great time to support marriage.  As Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth said in his letter to all U.S. bishops in 2015, National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day (the second Sunday in February) provide opportunities “to celebrate the gift and blessing of marriage and to affirm and support engaged and married couples.”

The annual observance of National Marriage Week encourages diverse groups to strengthen individual marriages, reduce the divorce rate, and build a stronger marriage culture, which in turn helps curtail poverty and benefits children.

The following are some resources that can help celebrate marriage this week.

• Spend a little dedicated time in prayer and reflection by participating in a seven-day virtual retreat (http://www.foryourmarriage.org/marriage-retreat-1-marriage-love-and-life-in-the-divine-plan/) focused on marriage.  This year the retreat draws from Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Letitia (2016) and the USCCB pastoral letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan.
• Take a look at Daily Marriage Tips to find ideas to strengthen your relationship. (http://www.foryourmarriage.org/marriage-resources/;tips-and-advice/daily-marriage-tip/).
• Find more resources on the USCCB National Marriage Week website at (http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/national-marriage-week.cfm, including preaching resources and a bulletin insert.
• Visit the website of Worldwide Marriage Encounter (http://wmd.wwme.org/) which provides numerous resources.
• Enter an online contest, being run on the For Your Marriage Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/foryourmarriage).  Contest rules can be found at (http://www.foryourmarriage.org/national-marriage-week-contest-rules/).
• The website for National Marriage Week (http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/) offers helpful ideas for building up marriage, recommended reading, supporting marriage in the community and much more.

Please click on the following  link for more information: National Marriage Week

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Image source: Lorraine Marie Photography