Adult Faith Formation

WEEKLY PROGRAMS

Scripture Study - Jeff Cavin's DVD presentation course: Matthew-The King and His Kingdom
Step-2 in the Great Adventure Series that began with the Bible Timeline

• Meeting for 24-sessions starting in mid-Sept'11 and ending in mid-May'12
• Tuesday nights at 7PM: Mary Center
• Repeated Wednesday mornings at 9PM: Parlor
• Each session will last about 1-1/2 hours

SIGHT
If you are 18-35, married or single, come join St. Ann's Young Adults, where we grow together in fellowship and faith. Meeting Sight in the vestibule at the Sunday, 10:45 a.m. Mass. For questions, please contact, Sarah Duran at 432-254-8565 or Kate Dominguez at 432-570-7589 or thewildcurl@gmail.com

Back to top

RCIA

The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Process will begin in late August/ early September. Sessions are held on Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Nursery is available. For more information please contact Carol Ann Hunt in the MMMC at 432-682-6303.

Take a Fresh Look at Your Marriage

A very special weekend together

What Is A Marriage Encounter?

Marriage Encounter is designed to give married couples the opportunity to examine their lives together…. Time to share their feelings, their hopes, disappointments, joys and frustrations…and to do so openly and honestly in a face-to-face, heart-to-heart encounter with the one person they have chosen to live with for the rest of their life. Contact Thomas Burke for more info. tcbu1@yahoo.com

The emphasis of Marriage Encounter is on communication between husband and wife, who spend a weekend together away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, to concentrate on each other.

It’s not a retreat, nor a marriage clinic, nor group sensitivity. It’s a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Christian Marriage.

This is a time for you and your spouse to be alone together. To rediscover each other and together focus on your relationship for an entire weekend. Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!

Who Is It For?

Any married couple who desires a richer fuller life together. A marriage can never be too good. Marriage Encounter is designed to deepen and enrich the joys a couple shares together, whether they have been married for only a short time, or many years. Marriage Encounter also provides support and encouragement to priests and religious who are dedicated to their vocation in life.

Do You Have To Be Catholic?

The weekend is Catholic in orientation and is expressed in the tradition and understanding of the Catholic Church. It is open to all, and so a certain number of spaces are reserved each weekend for couples of other faiths.

What Happens At a Worldwide Marriage Encounter?

A series of presentations are given by a team of Catholic couples and a Catholic Priest. Each presentation allows you and your spouse a rare opportunity to look at yourselves as individuals, then to look at your marriage and your relationship to one another, and finally to look at your relationship with God, the Church and the world. The weekend starts at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night and runs until about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

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.

How Does A Marriage Encounter Enhance A Marriage?

The encounter weekend teaches a communication technique which permits each couple to explore important areas of their relationship in a spirit of love and understanding. By continuing the newly acquired technique begun on the weekend, husbands and wives continually grow closer together to live more joyful and purposeful lives.

When And Where?

Marriage Encounter Weekends are held regularly at local motels and retreat houses. In some areas there is a waiting list for the weekend. So, registration several months in advance may be advisable.

Some Reactions from couples who have attended:
“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!”

“We had a good marriage. There was nothing Tom wouldn’t do for me. But I wanted more than that and got it. Marriage Encounter has given us a closeness we’ve never before known.”

“Before Marriage Encounter, all Jim and I ever talked about were the kids, his job, the house or money. Now we talk about us.”

“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 on the weekend. I went along strictly to avoid an argument. I’m sure glad we went. We really got a lot out of it.”

“Tony and I have been married for five years. During that time I’ve gotten ahead in my job and settled down nicely into my marriage. Marriage Encounter showed me how I can get ahead in my marriage too.”

Back to top