The Evangelization Retreat provides sacramentally married couples with an opportunity to begin their spiritual journey together (or deepen it if it already exists). The retreat serves as the introduction to Domestic Church for those interested in beginning formation in a Domestic Church circle. However, the retreat can fruitfully be attended by any sacramentally married couple. The retreat includes daily Mass, talks, and time for couples to encounter the Lord together.
Things to know:
Each spouse finds a daily quiet space to fully enter God’s presence. This calls for each person to develop a personal time and space with God.
In a quiet, separate space, the individual takes advantage of the gift of the living Word of God. There are no particular verses to read and reflect on, just the challenge to dive into Scripture each day and encounter God there.
The couple takes time each day to pray together aloud and usually in their own words. There is no length of time or other regulation set on this prayer. The focus is two-fold: to allow your spouse to witness your conversation with God and to offer shared prayers to God as a couple.
Couples make time each day to lead their family in prayer, if the couple has children in the home. Each family will discover and grow in their own way of praying together in a way that is fruitful for the different stages in their particular family’s life (small children, older children, adult children, etc).
The monthly couple dialogue is an intentional, prayerful, and structured conversation done under the watchful gaze of God for an extended period of time. The couple thoughtfully considers the spiritual, practical and personal needs of each spouse, of the marriage, of children, and of the family as a whole.
Particularly in connection with their monthly dialogues, each couple decides upon specific changes or policies they will put in place in their individual lives, their marriage, and their household that reflect God’s will for them and their efforts to grow in holiness according to His promptings. Some rules of life always remain the same, but others will change and grow with the couple’s discernment and the family’s needs over time.
Each couple commits to attending a Domestic Church retreat at least once per year. Retreats can be for just the couple or for the entire family. These can be longer retreats or weekend retreats. To learn about the available retreats click here.
The beauty of these commitments is that the movement provides formation, using the Church’s spiritual traditions and official teachings, for how to pray, how to use Scripture in prayer, and how to grow in a real relationship with God, our spouses, and our children in light of our Baptism.
