Chapter 11

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Marriage Enrichment

Formation in the Sacrament of Marriage is truly a lifelong project. The decision to say “I do” is made, again and again, remembering and renewing the decision initially made on the altar before Christ and His Church. Each day, we renew our commitment to love our beloved the way Christ loves us. We allow the grace of the Sacrament to continue shaping us into the persons God made us be, getting closer to heaven in the process. Please review the marriage enrichment resources below to see what’s right for you. Most of these resources listed can be completed by a couple on their own or in a group format in a home or parish setting. Please click here for additional resources for couples experiencing serious challenges in their relationship. 

Marriage Enrichment Resources

  • Grace Marriage: Grace Marriage guides couples to be intentional and build their marriage on the foundation of grace. Structured around easy-to-follow monthly sessions with videos, worksheets, and questions to inspire thought and conversations. Online resources are conveniently organized inside a private Grace Marriage at Home member-only site.
  • CoupleTalk offers a set of powerful communication tools to teach couples healthy ways to communicate as a couple about any topic and help improve their everyday communication. Couples can experience the full in-class program from their home and at their own pace. All 10 sessions are available to stream online for free.
  • Communio Date Night Kits: These free date night kits are a couple’s one-stop shop for a romantic date at home together. Communio also offers activities for ongoing engagement
  • Choice Wine: 7 Steps to a Superabundant Marriage can be experienced by couples directly at home, or in a small group or parish. Click here to learn more and get started.   
  • Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a weekend for married Christian couples who value their relationship and desire a richer, fuller life together. Attend a Marriage Encounter weekend and learn the tools to keep your marriage strong. Click here for a list of upcoming weekends.
  • REFOCCUS Marriage Enrichment Inventory is a packet of five questionnaires that married couples can use and score by themselves or as part of a weekend retreat. It is ideal for married couples who wish to spend time and energy on their relationship, but desire a little direction and skill building assistance in doing so. Click here to learn more and get started.
  • For Your Marriage helps couples at all stages of life to understand and live God’s plan for happy, holy marriages by providing education and spiritual resources. The website was launched in 2007 as part of the National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage, an initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to communicate the meaning and value of married life for the Church and for society.
  • BELOVED is a 12-part series from Formed that parishes can host to help couples uncover the mystery and meaning of the sacrament of marriage. Also available in Spanish.
  • Love Languages: Click here to learn more about the Five Love Languages and discover your love language!
  • Smart Loving’s Marriage Kit is an online course for married couples wanting a lasting, passionate relationship.
  • 10 Great Dates provides resources for couples to break the routine, reignite the excitement, and fall in love again.
  • CANA welcomes those who want to deepen their relationship as a couple, with monthly sharing groups, weekend and one-day retreats, CANA@Home, and week-long retreats.
  • Joyful Ever After’s mission is to help couples flourish in holy marriages, build strong marriage communities, and enrich parish life with the soul of the family.

Ministry Resources

  • Grace Marriage provides a pathway of discipleship for married couples in the parish structured around monthly or quarterly gatherings. It helps close the gap between premarital counseling and crisis care and responds to the statistic that 72% of churches lack any substantive marriage ministry. About 5-6 parishes in the Diocese of San Diego are currently using Grace Marriage.
  • Sacramental Adventures in Marriage (SAIM) is a 10-hour-long workshop that teaches couples how to communicate well and meaningfully, resolve conflicts, Daily Examen called “Couple’s Check-in”, all with the spiritual underpinning based on Sacramental Marriage and Love & Responsibility. Adapted from Adventures in Marriage by Live the Life, Inc.
  • CoupleTalk: Cracking the Code to an Amazing Relationships offers couples a set of communication tools to help them communicate about any topic and improve their everyday communication. Parishes can east a host a class. Click here to learn more.  
  • Communio: Parishes can leverage Communio’s free digital resources with their own branding to bless couples in their community and drive further engagement with participants by sharing content in the Ongoing Engagement and Growth Journey sections.
  • Choice Wine: 7 Steps to a Superabundant Marriage is a 9-session, interactive multimedia experience that parishes or small groups can host. Click here for more information on how to start Choice Wine at your parish.
  • Radiate Love: Through the California Catholic Bishops’ Radiate Love campaign, parish resources are provided to help parishes build a culture of marriage.
  • Alpha’s The Marriage Course creates a space that offers couples practical tools to help them build a stronger marriage.
  • Happy Together creates books and programs designed to help Catholic parishes support married couples with programs that have a positive message about marriage and are grounded in our Catholic tradition.

Contact Information

Staff

  • Director: John Prust
  • Associate Director: Janelle Peregoy
  • Associate Director: Wendy Baez
  • Administrative Assistant: Angie Rosario

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About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms combines the Diocese of San Diego’s coat of arms on the left side, and his on the right. On his, a red boat on a blue ocean sits on diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic communities.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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