By Mrs. karin abrams
Co ordinator of Marriage Education, Support and Enrichment | Life Marriage and Family Office in the Diocese of Parramatta

1: Your Apostolate

I am coordinator of the Marriage Education, Support and Enrichment in the Diocese of Parramatta. All couples marrying in the Diocese are encouraged to undertake some formal preparation. We offer weekend courses conducted by a trained married couple, the SmartLoving Engaged online program and for special cases the Prepare Inventory program with a trained facilitator. In addition, we hold seminars and an Annual Wedding Anniversary Mass called ‘Celebrating the Journey’.

2: Pandemic Impact

The pandemic lockdown forced us to cancel all weekend courses. We were not able to proceed with 5 weekend courses. There were a number of couples that cancelled their preparation as they decided to postpone their Wedding. Fortunately, we were able to continue to offer couples the SmartLoving Online program and the Prepare program via Zoom. We have resumed weekend courses as of late July with limited numbers due to social distancing regulations and with modified catering.
The impact for the future could mean more and smaller weekend course groups, more SL as it is an online option that can be undertaken at home and the Prepare preparation program being organised as a face to face session/s with a facilitator or using the Zoom option. We have a number of options which gives us confidence that we can continue to offer preparation for couples marrying in Catholic Churches in the Diocese into the future.
We have cancelled our seminars for 2020. We plan to offer seminars on marriage related topics in 2021 but we may need to rethink the format.

3: Priority Issues

The most important issue that I feel needs to be addressed urgently by the plenary process is the lack of knowledge or outright rejection of the Church’s teaching by young Catholics on chastity before marriage and the managing of couple fertility using Natural and church approved methods such as Billings, Sympto Thermal and Creighton Method of Fertility Care. Sadly, the majority of couples presenting for marriage preparation are living together and using artificial contraceptives. The Plenary needs to challenge Priests, Deacons and Catholic school educators to explicitly and courageously present the beauty of the Church’s teaching on chastity before marriage, fidelity in marriage and the advantages of Natural Family Planning. Our Catholic leaders need to be visibly counter cultural and inspire young Catholics to join them in rejecting the cultural that is diametrically opposed to the message of the Church on healthy relationships, lifelong marriage and a wholistic and natural way to manage the gift of fertility.

4: Plenary Proposal

That Clergy and Catholic Educators courageously prioritise and proclaim the teachings of the Church on the truth and beauty of chastity before marriage, and how to live faith filled lifelong marriages and improve understanding of the Church’s teaching on methods of family planning such as Billings, Sympto Thermal and the Creighton Method of Fertility Care.

5: Signs of Hope

The signs of hope that I see in the Church are the increasing number of young men discerning a vocation to the Priesthood.
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Submitted by: Mrs. karin abrams
Co ordinator of Marriage Education, Support and Enrichment | Life Marriage and Family Office in the Diocese of Parramatta

04/08/2020