Catholic Family Institute
Empowering couples and families to become ambassadors of Christ
by understanding
and living the fullness of our Catholic faith.
 Creator’s Corner...an all day scrapbooking and papercrafting event
Saturday, August 14th from 10 AM to 8 PM Your $30 registration fee includes: all day scrapbooking, lunch, dinner & snacks, goody bag, door prizes & lots of fun! There will be raffles, vendors and games throughout the day. Don’t forget your own supplies including pictures, adhesive, paper and embellishments! Participation will be limited.
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Mission
The Catholic Family Institute enriches marriages by creating an awareness of the Christian vocations of husband and wife and the role of the Catholic family as a representation of Christ to the world; resulting in stronger marriages and healthier families rooted in the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.
Values
By promoting and living out the Catholic Family Institute core values of Covenant, Union, Indissolubility, Fidelity, Procreation, and Family...
Vision
...we propose a vision of increased fellowship of married couples, mentoring relationships with engaged couples and newlyweds, aggressively promoting the Theology of the Body, a reduced divorce rate through an increased use of marriage peer ministries such as Worldwide Marriage Encounter and Retrouvaille, an increased awareness and use of Natural Family Planning, and offering parenting encouragement and tools to raise healthy, faith-driven Catholic families.
Principles
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the grace of the sacrament of Matrimony is your guide to holiness:
CCC 1641 ...By this grace they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children."
CCC 1642 Christ is the source of this grace...Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love.
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A Favorite Site
FOUR MEN...ONE CALLING: TO SERVE AND PROTECT. Fatherhood is the heartbeat of Courageous, the new movie from the creators of Fireproof, that is currently in production in Albany, Georgia. Coming to theatres in 2011! View on YouTube.
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Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan
A Pastoral Letter of the USCCB
 "As the first Christian families were islands of faith in their time, so Catholic families today are called to be becons of faith, 'centers of living, radiant faith.'"
Approved on November 17, 2009 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the letter is another component in the bishops' , which began in November 2004.
"The vision of married life and love that we have presented in this pastoral letter is meant to be a foundation and reference point for the many works of evangelization, catechesis, pastoral care, education and advocacy carried on in our dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies, movements and programs," says the document's closing section, called a "commitment to ministry."
A Case for Marriage
Why does marriage matter? Why choose to get married? Why work to stay married? These and other such questions are on people's minds today.
For help in answering the questions many will turn to social science research. Fortunately there is a lot of helpful information in the research that affirms the role and value of marriage for individuals, families, and society.
Pope John Paul II has written: "The Church values sociological and statistical research when it proves helpful in understanding the historical context in which pastoral action has to be developed and when it leads to a better understanding of the truth" (On the Family, 5).
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, through its National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage has explored how Church belief and teaching about marriage are strengthened and confirmed by the findings of social science research.
Article courtesy of our friends at Diocese of Joliet Center for Family Ministry |
