WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER - NEW YORK STATE
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
ROMAN CATHOLIC EXPRESSION
NEW YORK STATE - SECTION II
As I Have Loved You
What is Marriage Encounter?
The Marriage Encounter Weekend is a positive and personal experience for a
couple, which offers them a technique of loving communication that they can use
for the rest of their lives. It's an opportunity to look deeply into their
relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share their feelings,
their hopes, fears, frustrations and joys. Marriage Encounter is not a
professional counseling service. It is not a retreat, nor is it a marriage
clinic or sensitivity course. It is not a time to look at the past, but rather
to look to your future together. The weekend is a positive, simple, common
sense experience between husband and wife, that revitalizes marriage.
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Who is Marriage Encounter for?
Marriage encounter is for any couple who wants to enrich their marriage.
The weekend is designed to expand and deepen the joys a couple share together
whether they've been married for a short time or for many years. Marriage
Encounter is also for priests and religious who want to revitalize their
relationship with the people of God and develop an even deeper appreciation for
their own vocation.
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What happens at a Marriage Encounter?
An atmosphere is created on the weekend in which the couple can
concentrate exclusively on one another. A series of talks are given by a team
of trained couples and a priest. Each talk gives a husband and wife the
opportunity to look at themselves as individuals, and to look at their
relationship with each other, with God, and with others. Marriage Encounter
starts with the love you have for your spouse and helps you to build, expand,
and deepen that relationship. The Weekend shows you the way to do this and
provides you with the means - the rest is up to you!
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Does the Weekend respect the couple's privacy?
Yes! Marriage Encounter emphasizes communication between husband and wife
through a weekend experience, which is free of the every day distractions and
tensions. You concentrate on your spouse to such an extent that you are hardly
aware of the other couples who are on the weekend. 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 sharing using the
communication technique they are learning on the weekend. There is no group
discussion.
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How does a Marriage Encounter enhance a marriage?
The fundamental difference between marriages that are good, average, or
poor is the level of communication between husband and wife. For those with
good communication, it's a chance to deepen it, and for those whose
communication has faded, it's a chance to begin again. In all marriages, there
are times when we take each other and our relationship for granted. The Weekend
presents each couple with the opportunity to stop, take a fresh look at the two
of us, our marriage, and priorities. We learn a communication technique which
allows and encourages us to explore the important areas of our life together in
a spirit of love and understanding. The Weekend experience offers every couple
the insights, the tools, and the confidence to enrich their marriage and to
strengthen their love for one another. For many couples "Their Weekend" is one
of the most significant experiences of their lives.
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Is Marriage encounter only for Catholics?
No! The weekend is presented by three Catholic couples and a priest. It is
Catholic in its theology of marriage as a sacrament of the Church, but couples
of all faiths can benefit from it and are encouraged to attend. Marriage
Encounter is open to all happily married couples regardless of faith, race,
age, education, or financial status.
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When and where are Marriage Encounter weekends given?
Marriage Encounter Weekends are held periodically at local motels and
retreat houses. Registration several months in advance of when you want to
attend may be advisable. The weekend begins on Friday evening at 8:00 and ends
Sunday afternoon at 5:00, after Mass. Meals are provided on the
weekend.
For further information in the
- Albany area click here
- Archdiocese of NY area click here
- Brooklyn/Queens area click here
- Nassua/Suffolk area click here
- Rochester area click here
- Syracuse area lick here
We know Marriage Encounter to be the most successful and dynamic marriage enrichment experience in the world today. Since its beginning in the United States in 1968, couples and priests have volunteered their time and energies to bring Marriage Encounter Weekend to couples everywhere. Today more than two million couples in over 93 countries have experienced the beauty and the gift of their weekend. They want to share that experience with you, because they found something worth passing on.
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What does Marriage Encounter cost?
A NON-REFUNDABLE REGISTRATION fee confirms your food and lodging. At the end of the weekend, each couple is given a blank envelope and asked to make a donation. No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a Weekend because of
lack of funds.
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What does Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II have to say about Marriage Encounter?
"I place much of my hope for the future in Marriage Encounter"
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Finally, comments by couples who have made a Marriage Encounter weekend:
- "Bob and I no longer celebrate our wedding anniversary once a year.
Since Marriage Encounter we celebrate our marriage every day!"
- "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
helped to put things back into proper perspective for us. It's great!"
- "Not only did we experience a deep sense of unity and joy during the
weekend, but the intimacy and excitement continued after."
- "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."
- "Our lives have been so much enriched and we had thought after nearly 36
years of marriage that we had a rich and satisfying marriage, but we surely
found out we had only scratched the surface."
- "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."
- "This weekend gave me a new look at people and what the world truly can
be. The change in our relationship to each other has already brought about a
unique awareness of our children."
- "Thank you for the most rewarding weekend of our lives. We are eagerly looking forward to many more exciting years together and wish every married
couple could have a Marriage Encounter weekend."
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