What
is Marriage Encounter?
The Marriage Encounter Weekend is a
positive and personal experience for a couple, which offers them a technique of loving
communication that they can use for the rest of their lives. It's a time for the couple to
be alone together, to share their feelings, their hopes, fears, joys and frustrations.
Marriage Encounter is not a retreat, nor is it a marriage clinic or sensitivity course. It
is not a time to look at the past, but rather to look to your future together. The Weekend
is a positive, simple, common sense experience between husband and wife, that revitalizes
marriage by helping couples to see what their relationship could and should be.
Who is
Marriage Encounter For?
Marriage Encounter is for any
couple who wants to enrich their marriage. The Weekend is designed to expand and deepen
the joys a couple share together whether they've been married for a short time or for many
years. Marriage Encounter is also for priests and religious who want to revitalize their
relationship with the people of God and develop an even deeper appreciation for their own
vocation.
What
happens at Marriage Encounter?
An atmosphere is created on the
Weekend in which the couple can concentrate exclusively on one another. A series of talks
are given by a team of trained couples and a priest. Each talk gives a husband and wife
the opportunity to look at themselves as individuals, and to look at their relationship
with each other, with God, and with others. Marriage Encounter starts with the love you
have for your spouse and helps you to build, expand and deepen that relationship. The
Weekend shows you the way to do this and provides you with the means - the rest is up to
you!
Does the
Weekend respect the couple's privacy?
Yes! The Weekend is oriented
strictly to each individual couple. You concentrate on your spouse to such an extent that
you are hardly aware of the other couples present. The presentations are given to the
group as a whole. After each presentation, the husband and wife have time in the privacy
of their room for their own personal discussion. There is no group discussion.
How does
a Marriage Encounter enhance a marriage?
The fundamental difference between
marriages that are good, average or poor is the level of communication between husband and
wife. In all marriages, there are times when we take each other and our relationship for
granted. The Weekend presents each couple with the opportunity to get off the "Modern
World Treadmill", to stop and to take a fresh look at the two of us, at our marriage,
and our priorities. We learn a communication technique which allows and encourages us to
explore the important areas of our life together in a spirit of love and understanding.
The Weekend experience offers every couple the insights, the tools, and the confidence to
enrich their marriage and to strengthen their love for one another. For many couples
"Their Weekend" is one of the most significant experiences of their lives.
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Is the
Marriage Encounter for all faiths?
Yes, however the Encounter is
conducted in the framework of Christianity and is expressed in the traditions and
understanding of the Catholic Church.
Where
and when are the Weekends held?
Marriage Encounter Weekends are
held at frequent intervals at local motels, hotels, retreat houses, etc. Weekends begin
Friday night and conclude Sunday evening. In some areas, there is a waiting list for the
Weekend so, after making your plans to attend, register as soon as possible.
What does the Weekend cost?
A non-refundable registration fee
is required to ensure your reservation. Also, at the end of each weekend, each couple is
given a blank envelope and asked to make a donation, as Marriage Encounter is entirely
self-supporting. No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a Marriage Encounter
Weekend because of lack of funds.
People's
Comments
"Bob and I no longer celebrate our wedding anniversary
once a year. Since Marriage Encounter, we celebrate our marriage...every day!"
"Mary and I have been married for 25 years, and we
thought we knew everything about each other. Thanks to Marriage Encounter we're really
getting to know one another better."
"Rick and I love each other very much, but we felt as if
the world was slowly pushing us apart. Daily problems of money, job and children were
steadily becoming more important than our relationship. Marriage Encounter has helped to
put things back into proper perspective for us. It's great!"
"Al and I never realized what it meant to be a
sacramental couple. We discovered on the Weekend how important our marriage is to the
Church."
"When some friends suggested that Sheila and I make a
Marriage Encounter, we were shocked and more than a little hurt. We were very happily
married and, frankly, it surprised us that they thought we needed 'marriage counseling'.
When we finally told them how we felt, they laughed and said that they had suggested the
Encounter because we were a happily married couple. Now, I'm glad they did. We got an
awful lot out of it precisely because we brought a lot to it."
"It was Becky's idea to go to the Weekend. I went along strictly to
avoid an argument. I'm sure glad we went. We really got a lot out of it."
"I'm a priest. Marriage Encounter has helped me to
realize and accept my own humanness. It's given me the means to understand myself as a
man. This has proved invaluable in the living out of my priesthood."
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