Offering a Warm Catechesis on Catholic Marriage

Our local diocesan magazine, The Long Island Catholic, just featured our family and marriage ministry in their September issue. Some excerpts on our ministry:

"Their marriage vocation, as it should, centers first on their own family -- their love for each other, for their six children, and for Christ as the center of their marriage and family. But for Karee and Manuel Santos of Garden City, married 14 years, their Catholic marriage vocation extends much further, to their ongoing efforts to help others understand and live out the sacramental nature of Catholic marriage. ...

'Marriage should last a lifetime,' [Karee said], but many couples 'don't see, don't connect the dots' as to how marriage preparation is going to help make that happen.... 'Jesus loves you forever, and wants you to love each other forever,' she said. 'This is all bound up in the sacraments of the Church.' ...

As a psychiatrist, Dr. Santos explained, when he works with Catholic married couples in crisis he often finds that they've had 'an inadequate formation in the faith. This leads to an inadequate understanding of the meaning of marriage.'"

Some excerpts on the Pope Francis' upcoming Synod on the Family:

"Manuel and Karee Santos have high hopes for the upcoming Extraordinary Synod on the Family, to be held in Rome in October. ... Most of all, they are enthused about what Karee calls 'the Francis Effect' -- from the Holy Father's convening of this synod, to his influence on the information-gathering process, to his near-universal popularity that might help the synod's work to be received positively. ...

'The pope is aware' of what she called 'cultural Catholicism,' Karee said: 'people who love their parish, love their Catholic school,' but lack an awareness -- or even a desire to become more aware -- of Catholic doctrine. ... 'Pope Francis really focuses' on such 'Catholics of good will,' she said. 'If anybody can bring them more deeply into the fold, it's him.'"

For more information or to order copies of the article, you can visit the website of The Long Island Catholic by clicking here. For more information on our other media appearances, click here.