Bhubaneswar: A marriage enrichment program conducted in the Kandhamal district of Odisha state in eastern India stressed the need for communication in marriage to build strong Christian families.
The Indian unit of Couples for Christ conducted the September 22-October 5 program on the importance of the Sacrament of Christian marriage.
The program drew as many as 45 couples drawn from various parishes in the district that has the largest number of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. The district witnessed in 2008 the worst anti-Christian violence in modern India.
The Couples for Christ (CFC), an international Catholic lay ecclesial movement, was introduced in Kandhamal parishes three years ago. The movement, one of the 122 international association of Catholic laypeople, aims to renew an strengthen Christian values. The organization is affiliated with the Vatican recognition from the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
CFC India head Hector Poppen and his wife Garnet, from Bengaluru in southern India, led the program. The team spend two days each in parishes such as St Paul’s in Baliguda, Our Lady of Snow, Raikia, and Our Lady of the Rosary in Daringbadi. The parish priests also joined the couples to encourage them.
To strengthen relations between husband and wife, the program held several sessions on sharing and practical ways of leading married life daily. The sessions explained specific roles of husband and wife and ways to acquire communication skills, besides conducting inner healing session. It also charted an action plan for a strong Christian family.
Poppen said that the resource persons insisted that the couples share after each session couples what they learned from the talk and how it could apply to their marriage.
For most couples of this rural area, the program provided the first experience of sitting down and talk matters related to their marriage face-to-face , Poppen told Matters India.
Initially some found it awkward to sit in front of each other. However, as the sessions progressed, they could be seen actively participating in the couple discussion.
At the inner healing prayer some couples were in tears especially when they were asked to seek pardon from each other for the hurts caused knowingly or unknowingly.
The participants said they greatly benefited from the program. They expressed their desire to have more such family based programs.
At the end of the enrichment program, the resource team conducted one-day marriage seminar and introduction to Couples for Christ in Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Pokari. As many as 75 couples attended.
Priyonka Mohanayak, a participant, said the program helped strengthen her relationship with her husband through mutual understanding. They also realized the power of God in the family life.
“Couples came with great enthusiasm to participate in the programme which was really an encouraging one”, said Fr. Angelo Ranasingh, one of the parish priests, told Matters India.
Garnet Poppen notice the faith level among the participants high. “All couples we met and interacted exhibited strong faith in Jesus Christ and their strong faith in the Catholic Church,” she added.
According to her, the Kandhamal people’s faith has grown much stronger than what it was eight years ago before they underwent persecution at the hands of Hindu radical groups.
“The faith level is very high and may be higher than what it was 8 years ago in the time of anti-Christian violence,” she added.
CFC traces its origin to Manila, Philippines. It was established in 1981 by the charismatic community Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (Filipino for “The Joy of the Lord”) as its outreach to evangelize married couples.
The approach and strategy were to invite prospective couples to a private home and bring them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through a series of weekly informal discussions of the gospel in a social environment.
Beginning with the first 16 couples who joined the weekly gathering, CFC became a Christian family life renewal program which was later made available to parishes and groups of married couples who wished to live out their Christian life in an active, supportive relationship with one another.