September sessions ‘a chance for spouses to unplug, focus on one another’

July 12, 2018
Tom Burke
 
Out of his and his wife’s inability to find resources “designed to take healthy couples and lead them more deeply into a shared encounter with Christ,” Chris Stravitsch decided to help fill that need. He is a co-founder of the St. John Paul II Foundation, offering “formation and education in the areas of life and family,” and its “Together in Holiness” program, dedicated to “forming spouses so that they can form their families.” The program visits the Archdiocese of San Francisco for the third time Sept. 29. Chris holds a doctor of ministry degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he focused his research on the spiritual formation of couples and families. He is also a licensed marriage and family therapist.
 
Chris is one of the day’s speakers Sept. 29: “I will be giving a talk that teaches three simple steps spouses can follow to begin or deepen their prayer life together,” he told me via email. Chris said “most spouses say they don’t know how to pray together outside of the Mass and mealtime prayers. We want them to feel more confident in their shared spiritual life.”
 
The program can serve as refreshment for couples who have attended before and welcomes couples attending for the first time, Chris said. “What is so great about church teaching is that its principles are timeless, but we always need to hear them in new ways. We have a strong relationship with the archdiocese, for which we are very grateful, so we are happy to return as long as ‘Together in Holiness’ remains so well received by the spouses we serve.”
 
Chris called the day “a chance for spouses to unplug and focus on their love for one another and their families with the sacraments and some wonderful talks. This is why we keep returning. We love to see spouses more in love and families growing in faith and strength.”
 
The program, Chris said, “is for all Catholic spouses, though we are also starting to see more engaged couples around the country. Basically, it is for anyone who wants to not merely survive marriage, but thrive in it.”
 
First offered in 2014, “Together in Holiness” has been presented in eight dioceses nationwide with three more soon to be added, Chris said.
 
I asked Chris: What with rampant divorce, couples giving up easily, couples simply living together, can marriage be saved?
 
“Marriage is a natural, fundamental institution, raised by Christ to the level of a sacrament of the church,” Chris said. “It predates every government and every nation, and it will outlast every institution we see today. It is true that marriage as an institution is hurting in our society, but that does not change its nature and how beautiful and fruitful it can be today for a couple who loves each other and puts God in the center of their marriage. That is the hope that people need to see – happy, healthy, holy spouses and families who radiate the joy of the Gospel. That is why ‘Together in Holiness’ exists.”
 
“Together in Holiness,” Sept. 29, 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m., Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 1040 Alameda de Las Pulgas, Belmont. The day includes Mass with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, eucharistic adoration, and reconciliation, $59 a couple, or $35 individual, $49/$29 until Aug. 20; childcare (2 to 12 years) available, space limited. In addition to Chris. Speakers include Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco who has studied at the Angelicum in Rome and at Oxford, and Dr. John Grabowski, a highly renowned professor at Catholic University and an expert in the magisterium of St. John Paul II. Visit www.forlifeandfamily.org/events/th18-sfca/; email hopfnere@sfarch.org. Ed Hopfner (415) 614-5547.
 
 
YMI ‘MAN OF THE YEAR’: Father Agnel de Heredia, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish, San Francisco, was honored as the Young Men’s Institute’s “Man of the Year” in ceremonies at the YMI Grand Council in Reno June 19-21. “Congratulations, Father Agnel on your well-deserved award!” the YMI said in a note to this column. “Father Agnel has been doing double duty serving as the YMI Grand Chaplain and the South San Francisco Council #32 chaplain for the past 17 years. He is well loved by the YMI brotherhood as he has become the spiritual leader of the organization, presiding at all our Masses and inspiring us to be better stewards. He has become a friend and confidant to the entire membership of YMI, in both times of sorrow due to sickness and death to gleeful celebrations from marriages and baptisms.”


BEEP, BEEP: Congratulations to Holy Angels School third grader Miguel Martinez, whose artwork was selected by SamTrans and the San Mateo County Office of Education to be part of the 2018 “ART TAKES A BUS RIDE” contest, “The Wild Side of Samtrans.” Miguel received recognition at ceremonies June 6 in San Carlos.
 
 


Email items and electronic pictures – hi-res jpegs - to burket@sfarch.org or mail to Street, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109. Include a follow-up phone number. Street is toll-free. Reach me at (415) 614-5634; email burket@sfarch.org.