What is a Worldwide Marriage Encounter?
WWME is a weekend away from the responsibilities and practicalities of ones daily life in order to expand and deepen that life. An Encounter weekend is not a retreat, a marriage clinic or a sensitivity group. It’s aim is to help participants develop very special communication skills. Feelings and thoughts flow more freely, resulting in greater love, renewed (and continuing) dedication, and more joy in living out one’s chosen way of life.
Why Should Priests and Religious Attend a Weekend?
Pope John Paul once said that priests come to their priesthood by seeing “the love of their mother and father”.
Priests should attend a weekend for themselves – to come to a deeper appreciate of their vocation, their sacrament, their ministry , their parish or community and their value to us as priests. The weekend is focused on the integral relationship of the sacrament of holy orders and matrimony, their similarities, and their collective benefit to the Church and our Catholic community. We have a dream that all priests and religious experience a Weekend to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationship with God. Our goal is to have more priests and religious attend the weekend to appreciate their own ministry as priest and perhaps find new ways to help assist married couples in their parishes.
Attending a weekend allows priests an opportunity to get away from their every day workload and focus on their relationship with the church and their community. The tools learned help priests and couples to become more intimate in these relationships and strengthen their sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders.
Priests have shared how they’ve grown personally through the witness of the inspiring transformations of couples on the weekend. The co-responsibility of couples and priest is one of the charisms of Worldwide Marriage Encounter. Our weekend experience requires the presence of both sacraments.. The leadership of our movement at every level is comprised of an ecclesial team, a priest and couple working side by side, joining the strength of the sacrament of Marriage and the strength of the sacrament of Holy Orders.
WWME strongly encourages couples to form relationships with their priests, to love them and celebrate their vocation. As our children see us loving our priests, and see the beauty of priesthood lived out in joyful priests, they may be more open to responding to the call to priesthood themselves. In addition, Worldwide Marriage Encounter couples are more likely to encourage the vocation of priesthood in their children. Our Mission Statement is to “proclaim the value of Marriage and Holy Orders in our church and in our world.” WWME proclaims the value of these two vocations!
What happens on a Marriage Encounter Weekend?
A series of presentations is given by a team of Catholic couples and a priest. Each presentation allows you to look at yourself as an individual, and then to look at your relationship to those with whom you live and work and to whom you minister. Finally, you are led to look at your relationship with God, the Church as a whole, and the world. Married couples view all these relationships in terms of their own vocation, but the principles are freely applicable to the priesthood and religious life as well. The atmosphere is relaxed and non-invasive.
I have heard that dialogue is an important part of the Weekend.
“Dialogue” is the communication technique taught on the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. A priest/religious who is making the Weekend dialogues with the priest on the ministry team, or another priest/religious who is also making the Weekend.
What Other Priests Say About WWME
“Whether you do it for your people or do it for yourself, just take a weekend off from your ministry & make an encounter. It was the most important weekend that I spent in my 25 years of priesthood. I really believe that those whom I have served as a pastor since my weekend would agree.”
Fr. Dennis Hughes
“I gained a profound respect for the Sacrament of Marriage. In a ministry where almost all of a priest’s time is spent with people who are, will be, or have been married, this understanding I gained from the Weekend has been invaluable.”
Fr. John Curran
“I began to understand just how important love was in my life. The fact that people loved me and that it was all right for me to love in return, was the beginning of a major transformation to fullness of life in my priesthood.”
Bishop John J. Kaising, D. D.
How will a Marriage Encounter Weekend specifically enhance and enrich my life as a priest?
The Marriage Encounter weekend teaches a communication technique that allows each person to deepen relationship in their sacrament. For spouses, that means each other. For you as a priest, it means everyone you have dedicated your life to serving. This new way of communication is adaptable to virtually every relationship and situation.
How do I find a Weekend?
If you have any questions, please call or text 512-677-WWME (9963) or email wwmeaustin@gmail.com.
Apply Today
Learn more or apply for upcoming Worldwide Marriage Encounter Experiences near you