Sharing the Experience of Marriage Encounter

JORDAN: Happy Sunday everyone and hope you are all well! For those who don’t know us- My name is Jordan, and this is my lovely wife Ah Kwi Lan. We are both locals and we are very blessed to be part of this wonderful parish community. The community spirit is strong because we always get together during difficult times to give a small helping hand to those in needs that makes a big difference in their life. We are both here this morning to talk to all married couples about Worldwide Marriage Encounter and to invite you to experience a Marriage Encounter weekend. The origins of Worldwide Marriage Encounter go back to 1952 when a young Spanish priest, Father Gabriel Calvo developed a series of conferences for married couples. For more than 50 years, Worldwide Marriage Encounter has helped over 3.5 million couples in more than 100 countries. It came to Australia in the 1970’s.

It’s quite normal for us to lose touch with our spouse due to our everyday life’s challenges with Kids (when dealing with teenagers), school, and work life. A Marriage Encounter weekend brings a unique opportunity to rekindle loving relationships. Thousands of couples around the world have nurtured their relationships this way.

So, what’s a Marriage Encounter weekend?    It runs from Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon.  It provides you with tools for improved communication, better listening, acceptance of each other for who we are and leads to greater intimacy in our married relationship. Throughout the weekend, there is no group discussion or marriage counselling. It’s private and dedicated time for just 2 of you to allow you to focus on your relationship. 

AH KWI LAN: Jordan and I have known each other for 28 years and we have been married for 22 years. During our marriage life, we have shared lots of wonderful times together.  Every moment spent together is a gift – a chance to share our unconditional love and appreciation for each other. However, we have also had difficult times in our marriage life; times when we are not as connected as we could be, which is part of being married.

We decided to go to our first Marriage Encounter weekend in November last year in Melbourne when we saw this announcement in one of the church’s bulletins. We told Father James that we were very interested to do it. However, we really did not know what to expect, but Jordan and I were very keen to go and experience it, glad we did!!

We had some communication gaps in our married life due to our daily routine; kids, studies and works. We had no idea what a weekend could bring for our mutual beneficial relationship. We were a bit nervous at the start, but we came out of the weekend revitalized; really appreciating each other, and much more connected. The Marriage Encounter weekend has helped us to have new hopes for a better marriage life and this experience has also reminded us that our marriage is the most important relationship to cherish and to preserve.

JORDAN: So, who is a Marriage Encounter weekend for? The weekend is mostly suited for ‘good marriages’ but has also helped couples who have said they were struggling.  However, it’s not really suited for couples with very serious problems.

On the weekend, there are a series of talks given by 2 or 3 married couples and a priest. The team are not counsellors, but they are normal couples like us.  They share their own stories ups and downs and open the door to exploring, how we communicate, how we listen to each other and how we can choose to make loving decisions that support our married relationships.

At regular times throughout the weekend, couples have sufficient time alone to explore the topics being presented.  This time is private and there is no group sharing!

The weekend is honestly a gift. You don’t “need” a weekend – you deserve one. It’s really about the 2 of you deserving it.

A Marriage Encounter weekend is based on Catholic values but it’s also worth mentioning that couples of all or no faith are very welcome.  It’s for all married couples; no matter how many years you’ve been married.

AH KWI LAN: We recognize that our marriages are important. Of course, it’s worth spending time to focus and nurture our most important relationship. Why just settle for ‘OK’ or ‘Good’ when you can have a great or even better marriage? And it’s not just you who benefits – Your family and friends especially your kids (even adult kids) get to see and feel a difference in your relationship. 

JORDAN: When is the next weekend available? We have actually 2 weekends available in Victoria for this year. The first weekend will be on 12-14 of April & the other one on 4-6 of October.

It’s a live-in weekend at St Paul’s Missionary College, in Wantirna South (it is a suburb in Melbourne). It’s a different kind of “weekend getaway” so you can get away from the pressures and distractions of daily routines to focus on just the two of you. There are also private rooms for couples available on the premises.

We are also pleased and grateful to have with us this morning, our friends (Sue and Steve) who were one of the married and presenting couples who have helped as volunteers to run the Marriage Encounter Weekend that we did last year. They have travelled from Melbourne to visit us this morning. Sue & Steve, could you please stand up as we welcome you both to our parish community and to our beautiful town too! Thank you for everything you both do and we really appreciate your precious time!

So, if you are interested or if you want to have a quick chat after mass, Sue and Steve would be somewhere at the back of the church to assist you with your queries. There will also be some brochures available for pick up.

To conclude, we do hope that every married couple takes just a couple of minutes to consider whether you would like to attend the weekend.  To this day, we are very glad we did as it is having lasting effects on our relationship. Thank you, Father James for allowing us to speak here today and to all of you for listening. Before we go, we would like to share with you a beautiful quote on “Marriage”.

Marriage is not about Wedding. It’s about the years of growing together and as individuals and not giving up on one another.

It is also an important reminder for us to pray for all couples. God bless and may you all have a reflective Lent! Thank you!

PS From Fr James… Our huge thanks to Jordan and Ah Kwi Lan for sharing their experience so beautifully. For more information on Worldwide Marriage Encounter visit https://www.wwme.org.au/