This is the second
mailing of The Future Depends on Love
marriage initiative directly from the Massachusetts Catholic Conference (MCC) office
to your parish! The Future Depends on Love is an
initiative of the four bishops of Massachusetts
through the MCC, which is the public-policy voice of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts. This email contains links to the resources
recommended for use in bulletins in the upcoming weeks.
Resource
Seminars presenting "Parish Resources for Marriage" ring binders are being held
throughout the state, and your parish will be getting a hard copy of these
resources soon, if you have not received it already.
We all
recognize the need for the faithful of Massachusetts
to be better educated and catechized on the nature of lifelong, life-giving
marriage, so we encourage you to utilize these resources. Your assistance in this work of service is
greatly appreciated!
Three pdf's of bulletin inserts are downloadable
through links; possible use dates are given below. In addition, you are urged to continue to run
a weekly The Future Depends on Love box in your bulletin ("bulletin brief") with
a brief quote from a Church document.
Those quotes are given below, and you can also access JPGs of these
"bulletin briefs" through the links in this email. Homiletic
aids are also included for each weekly theme, also linked to this email.
All these documents are available online at
www.MassCatholicMarriage.org. Click on
"Parish Resources."
Greetings!
All these documents are available online
at www.MassCatholicMarriage.org. Click on "Parish Resources."
Please see the
other announcements below concerning all the exciting events going on with The Future Depends on Love!
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Upcoming Events
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Suggested weekly themes and bulletin items for the upcoming month are the following:
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Week #7 (October 5)
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Week #7 (October 5): The importance of purity and chastity for true freedom.
The Future Depends on Love (FDOL) box in the bulletin: Week 7 JPG
"We should say what we mean and mean what we say with sex. And sex says marriage. Sexual intercourse is the body language which accompanies and expresses, again and again, the wedding vows. It is the language of total gift. If one or both persons are not yet ready to say 'I give all that I am, including my body' and 'I accept from you the gift of all that you are, including your body,' then they are not ready for sex. If a couple does not fear becoming a real gift to each other, they should not fear marriage." Australian Bishops Conference, Marriage in the Catholic Church: Frequently Asked Questions, 2006
 Bulletin announcement: A new TV show, "The Future Depends on Love," is being shown on Catholic TV. The series features a variety of guests speaking on topics related to marriage, including family life and the theology of the body. It can also be viewed on www.CatholicTV.com and on www.MassCatholicMarriage.org. |
| Week #8 (October 12) |
Week #8 (October 12): Christ is the Bridegroom because He loves the Church with a life-giving love even unto death. FDOL box in the bulletin: Week 8 JPG:
"It can seem difficult, even impossible, to bind oneself for life to another human being. This makes it all the more important to proclaim the Good News that God loves us with a definitive and irrevocable love, that married couples share in this love, that it supports and sustains them, and that by their own faithfulness they can be witnesses to God's faithful love." Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1648
Bulletin insert: More Than a Wedding: Why Get Married in the Church?Bulletin announcement: A new TV show, "The Future Depends on Love," is being shown on Catholic TV. The series features a variety of guests speaking on topics related to marriage, including family life and the theology of the body. It can also be viewed on www.CatholicTV.com and on www.MassCatholicMarriage.org. |
| Week #9 (October 19)
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Week #9 (October 19): Marriage and the family should be promoted in civic affairs. FDOL
box in the bulletin: Week 9 JPG:"Christians, redeeming the present time and distinguishing eternal realities from their changing expressions, should actively promote the values of marriage and the family, both by the examples of their own lives and by cooperation with other men of good will."
Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, #52
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| Week #10 (October 26)
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Week #10 (October 26): Fostering the vocation to love in our society. FDOL
box in the bulletin: Week 10 JPG: "Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it."
Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, #10
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Sincerely,
The Future Depends on Love
Massachusetts Catholic Conference
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Parish News
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Do you want a speaker on Marriage in your Parish? Please contact the Massachusetts Catholic Conference at 617-367-6060 or email Kathy Magno to scheadule a speaker!
Deadline extended for orders of the Janet Smith CD! This terrific resource can come to your parish for a very low cost-or even free! Please fill out the reservation form available here. Get it to the Massachusetts Catholic Conference office by September 30! Flyer for "The Future Depends on Love" series on Catholic TV is available here.Please consider posting this flyer in your parish. A
Parish Assessment form is available and will also be distributed near the
end of the initiative around January 2009.
It can be downloaded at here. |
Upcoming Events
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Speaker-Training Workshops on September 26,
7-9:30 pm, at the Archdiocese of Boston's Pastoral Center. See the application here. Please post the application and consider
recommending the event to parishioners whom you think might be excited by
the opportunity. Clergy are also
welcome.
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