Vocations: Christian life program to be offered for couples

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TAYLORSVILLE — Couples for Christ (CFC) is presenting a Christian life program in English and in Spanish at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church.

“CFC is a Catholic movement committed to renewing and strengthening Christian family life, which is essential in today’s world,” said Rodel Santos, organizer and part of the CFC diocesan team.

In 2019 Bishop Oscar A. Solis endorsed Couples for Christ and their incorporation as an “integral part” of the diocesan family ministry because marriage and family life is among the priorities of the diocese’s mission.

The goal of this Christian program is “to reconnect individuals with God and uphold the family as a sacred institution,” said Santos, adding that the organization “aims to provide strength and guidance to those striving to embody true Christian values in today’s society.”

Through the Couples for Christ Christian Life Program, “participants will deepen their understanding of God’s love, the identity of Jesus Christ, and what it means to be a Christian,” he said.

“We live in a complex world where many have been conditioned to prioritize self over God, treating him as merely a concept rather than a central reality,” Santos said adding that it’s crucial that people commit to seeking and understanding the truth, “not rooted in secular or worldly beliefs, but in God’s truth.”

Those attending the program will have the opportunity to explore the significance of repentance and faith, the Christian ideal of loving God and neighbor, the concept of the Christian family, and the nature of life in the Holy Spirit, he said.

“Additionally, they will learn about receiving and growing in the power of the Holy Spirit, the mission of Couples for Christ, and the transformative journey in Christ,” he said. “They can expect a transformative experience. They can look forward to forming authentic bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood with others who share a common commitment to their faith journey. They can also anticipate lifelong support from this community and, most importantly, a renewed relationship with God.”

Crystal Painter, director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Office of Marriage and Family Life, invites all the couples in the diocese to attend this program, which emphasizes the importance of the vocation of marriage.

“Pope Francis says it best in Amoris Laetitia when he says, ‘The ability of human couples to beget life is the path along which the history of salvation progresses. Seen this way, the couple’s fruitful relationship becomes an image for understanding and describing the mystery of God himself, for in the Christian vision of the Trinity, God is contemplated as Father, Son and Spirit of love. The triune God is a communion of love, and the family is its living reflection,’” she said.

Saint Pope John Paul II defined the family as the way of the Church, she added.

“The call to the vocation of marriage, when properly discerned and expressed as God planned, can bear much fruit,” Painter said.

The Church teaches, among other values, social justice, stewardship, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, peace, love and kindness; and in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, “Pope Benedict highlighted the importance of married love as ‘the primary vital cell of society,’ a ‘place where we learn the experience of the common good,’” Painter said. “A great fruit of the family is other vocations – to the priesthood, to religious life.”

The Catholic Church “in her wisdom shines light on the importance of the Sacrament of Marriage as a vocation; a call to be discerned like all vocations,” she added.

The Sacrament of Marriage is a mutual self-giving; “the couples promise each other total self-giving, faithfulness and openness to new life and with God’s grace, in living out this vocation, couples build up the Church,” Painter said.

Couples for Christ will be held on Nov. 9 in St. Martin de Porres Parish’s multipurpose room, 4914 South 2200 West, Taylorsville. It will begin with registration at 8 a.m. and end with a bilingual Mass at 5 p.m.

There is no cost to attend.

For information, contact Cryslyn Santos at 310-985-5520, or Ricky Coronel at 626-378-7845 or rcoe950825@aol.com