Remain in My Love 2018

Remain in My Love

Second Year: January to December 2018

PARTICIPANTS:
Staff of Parishes, Schools and Institutions of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

GOAL:
Renewing Our Mission of Pastoral Care of Married Couples and Families

This second year of the Remain in My Love initiative, drawing on the outcome of the first year, will focus on parishes of the Archdiocese. Schools and institutions are invited to participate In light of the mission and vision of the initiative, this year will assemble the leadership of the parishes, especially the parish priests, [and schools and institutions] to provide clear instruction on Christian marriage and family life for study by the principal staff within the parish [and school or institution], tools for the evaluation of structures and programs according to this teaching, and guidance for ongoing means to reinvigorate Christian marriage and the family.

Resources for Staff of Parishes, Schools and Institutions:

There are four parts to Remain in My Love for 2018:

Part I: The Staff Meeting
Pastors [and leaders in schools and institutions] within the Archdiocese are to make use of the Guidebook to convene the principal staff three times throughout the course of this year. The purpose of these meetings is to reflect on the teachings of Christ and his Church on the Sacrament of Marriage and the family. The topics and plan for these meetings are outlined in the Guidebook. This Guidebook provides the organizational, theological and practical information for the pastor [and leader of the school or institution] to lead the principal staff throughout the second year of the Remain in My Love initiative.

This Guidebook also contains the summary of the results from an Archdiocesan-wide survey of families conducted this past year. The complete set of results can be found here (coming soon). The survey results give the parish [and school and institutions] leadership an encounter with verbatim responses from real families and help reveal areas where the local Church has supported or failed to support them in their marriages and family life. This information will help guide each parish’s [and school’s or institution’s] discernment as they seek to create a plan to serve married couples and families more intentionally and efficaciously.

Part II: The Plenary Catechetical Sessions
The Remain in My Love initiative for this second year includes three large catechetical sessions scheduled throughout 2018 to correspond relatively with the three principal staff meetings. These sessions will communicate the basic teachings of the Church on marriage and family according to the topics listed in Section 3 below. Attendance at each of the three sessions by a minimum of two principal staff members is expected by the Archbishop. The topics, location and online RSVP can be found on this page.

These sessions will be large group gatherings and will consist of (1) the viewing of a Humanum video, (2) a talk by a local presenter skilled in the area of communicating the Church’s teachings on marriage and family and (3) time for Q & A. Each session will be offered in more than one location to make it accessible to members of the principal staff. Please RSVP here.

Part III: CanaVox Small Study Groups
To encourage group discussion and continue the conversation in between the plenary catechetical sessions, parishes [and schools and institutions] are encouraged to launch small study groups among the members of the principal staff, employees and volunteers. These small groups will follow the content and format of CanaVox study groups. To learn more about these study groups, please view the flyer or visit archphila.org/canavox.

Use this short video to invite your colleagues to join a CanaVox group!

Part IV: Evaluation and Application
By summer 2018, parish [or school or institution] staff members will have participated in two Staff Meetings, attended two Plenary Catechetical Sessions and a number of CanaVox group meetings. At this time, parish [or school or institution] leadership will be asked to meet together to evaluate current practices concerning Christian marriage and family life. They will also be asked to generate a plan to more strongly and intentionally minister to married couples and families. The goal is to launch the parish plan in early 2019 as part of Year III, the year in which the Remain in My Love initiative aims to reach Archdiocesan married couples and families. Questions for the evaluation of current practices in the parish and guidelines for application will be provided in advance.

RML families

Thank you to our generous sponsors: Knights of Columbus and Our Sunday Visitor Institute