In March, the first of the four months will take place in which the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry in the USA will offer, in alliance with CEBITEPAL, the Training Center of CELAM, the Latin American Episcopal Council, four series of webinars aimed at to the training of pastoral agents and others interested in the American continent. They will take place on Wednesdays in March, April, May, and June, at 6:00 p.m. in Colombia, which will be 7:00 p.m. in Miami.
These, which respond to the four pillars of the Pastoral, will be developed as follows:
- Wednesday in March: Family
- Wednesday of April: Family Pastoral
- Wednesday in May: Social Justice
- Wednesday in June: Pastoral Formation
First webinar: March, four Wednesdays on Family Pastoral
In the first month, the key theme is “Family Pastoral Care”. This is an essential priority for the Church and society. The different speakers will present the themes where emphasis will be placed on two aspects:
- The Christian vision of the Church on marriage and family,
- and the importance of personal relationships, healthy human bonds, as a path to a healthy relationship with God, with the supernatural world.
Catechumenal Itineraries and Amoris Laetitia
Regarding the importance that the Church gives to marriage and family, some passages from the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis Amoris Laetitia will be reviewed and the importance of the Catechumenal Itineraries for married life will be analyzed. These are “pastoral guidelines for particular Churches”, published in 2022 by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, and endorsed by Pope Francis. Carla Ferrando-Bowling, Master in Marriage and Family from the University of Navarra and president of the Federation for Hispanic Family Pastoral Care, will explain what this important document is about, what are the challenges for its implementation and what are the best practices for it to have success in local churches.
Healthy human bonds, essential for a healthy family
It is not new for us to hear that the majority of divorces occur due to an increasingly deep-rooted tendency that consists of “living in the moment”, “always doing what one feels”, “trying everything to know how to choose”, losing perspective of the importance of making personal decisions for lasting good. The four sessions on the Family will aim to forge stable relationships, inner freedom, and motivation to grow in mutual dedication.
Influencers, Los Holen: Forming marriages in harmony
In the first meeting, the marriage of Luisa and Leonardo Holen, both Masters in Marriage and Family Sciences from the Pontifical University John Paul II, in Rome and trainers of courtship and married life, will put all their sympathy and joy expressed in their videos as influencers, to convey the reality that love is not just an emotion, nor just a feeling, and that it implies a personal decision for a good that one chooses, for the construction of “we” as a challenge of married life.
Rediscovering sacramental grace
On the second Wednesday of March, the theme will focus on the sacramental grace of marriage, and how it, if assumed daily and in depth, not only brings harmony to marriage and the family, but also helps spouses discover their mission as a couple, their ideal of marriage, which God has planned for them from all eternity.
There is no greater happiness than knowing what one lives for, what is the meaning of one’s personal life, of life in marriage, and very specifically that of oneself. By deepening this gift, the couple enhances their love for each other, is able to face crises with maturity, and can, as a married couple, be a source of hope for others.
This will be the theme that Carla Ferrando-Bowling will present, together with the married couple of Mario and Paola Martínez, founders and directors of the Office of Marriage and Family Life of the Diocese of San Bernardino, in California. Paola has a degree in Psychology from the University of California and Mario has a Master’s degree in Applied Psychology. Both dedicate their lives to training married couples to achieve a safe and healthy family environment. Chilean Father Felipe Ríos, marriage advisor for the Schoenstatt Movement in Ecuador, will also be part of the panel.
They will also address the importance of finding, accompanying and integrating marriage ministry leaders to achieve a renewal of the culture of marriage and family life. The goal is to strengthen the Domestic Church, supported by resources and training based on the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Paternity, motherhood and education of children
The last two sessions, on March 20 and 27, will be dedicated to paternity and motherhood and the education of children. Men and women are equal in dignity, but different in modality. Children instinctively perceive it from a very young age, even from babies, and they need both to have an organic and full development. It is not relevant what tasks both perform, but what impresses the soul and psyche of the child is the masculinity of the father, with all of her characteristics, and the femininity of the mother, with all of her imprint. Their contributions to the souls of children are different and complementary. This will be the theme of March 20, which will expose the richness of being complementary and not opposite, and the importance of each person fulfilling their role desired by God.
Educational revolution: freedom as much as possible, is it possible?
In the last webinar on family, which will take place on March 27, the topic will revolve around the education of children and the importance of giving children freedom “as much as possible” but integrated with generating in them the need to become responsible for the decisions they make. Affection and personal ties are essential for children to grow up with powerful emotional and psychological roots, to face the crises that adolescence and adult life will bring, and to have a future that allows them to fulfill their personal ideal.
In the development of the session, the thesis of “freedom as much as possible” will be based, and what are the conditions for it to work, and allow our children to succeed in life.
Socorro Truchán is one of the speakers in these two sessions. She is president of CFLA, the Catholic Family Life Association of the USA (https://nacflm.org/) and deputy director of the Office of Parish Life and Lay Leadership -Domestic Church- in the diocese of Kalamazoo. Among other studies, she has a postgraduate degree in Pastoral Ministry with emphasis on the New Evangelization
They will accompany three couples with vast experience in Family Pastoral Care and education of children. These are Martín Del Solar Soto and Blanca Medrano Gandolfo, Directors of the National Commission for Family Pastoral Care of Chile; Betty Matías and Francisco López Cruz, university professor and pedagogue respectively, educators of the Schoenstatt Family Federation; and Allison and Solange Schila, Couple National Coordinator of Family Ministry of Brazil.
The webinars on the Family will be led by Enrique Soros, vice president of the National Hispanic Council of the USA and coordinator of Family Ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington for 15 years.
Registration for these webinars is done through the following link: https://bit.ly/webinar-pastoral. More information can be obtained on the website of the National Hispanic Council of the USA: https://ncchim-us.org, or through email [email protected].
LINKS:
Amoris Laetitia
Catechumenal Itineraries for married life
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2022/06/15/0459/00940.html
