Catechism of the Catholic Church

Vatican Documents

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

For Your Marriage
http://www.foryourmarriage.org/
This initiative from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops provides resources on marriage, parenting, dating and engagement.
 
World Wide Marriage Encounter
http://www.wwme.org/
This retreat weekend for married spouses is a wonderful experience of enrichment.  Similar to a Cursillo but structured for couples to attend, Marriage Encounter has existed for many years and has had a positive impact on thousands of marriages across the country.  A local session is expected to be offered in East Grand Forks in November, 2016
 
Marriage: Unique for a Reason
http://www.marriageuniqueforareason.org/
This site contains catechesis on the Sacrament of Marriage

Into the Deep Invites you to encounter God, neighbor, and your unrepeatable personhood through Eucharist-centered prayer, lessons on the theology of the body, and the adventure of truly living and loving as God intended.

The Catholic Gentleman The Catholic Gentleman exists to inspire men to holiness—to love God, to serve others, and to deny self. And to do it all with class and classic manly flair. 

The Chastity Project Promotes the virtue of chastity through seminars, resources, clubs, and social media.

The Theology of the Body Find books, DVD’s and recordings by the world’s most articulate speakers on Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body writings and the Sacramental World View, by Father Thomas J. Loya, Christopher West, Father Jacques Philippe and others!

Those Catholic Men Designed to embolden, enlighten, and engage Catholic men for the renewal of masculine character and spirituality. Their team of laymen, seminarians, and priests welcomes you to join a movement which will result in the restoration of Catholic men and, consequently, Catholic families and communities.

Women Made New Ministries Encourages women in need of personal healing, empowering them to become the women God created them to be.

Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia

Click to the left to go to the Vatican Website to download the 2016 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

Click  HERE to download Amoris Laetitia directly.

USCCB Information

For information about the Synods of Bishops on the Family click HERE.

For information about the Apostolic Exhortation from the USCCB which include Frequently Asked Questions, news tidbits and a video press conference on the morning of the document's release, click HERE.

"Lord God, you are attentive to the voice of our pleading.

Let us find in your Son comfort in our sadness, certainty in our doubt, and courage to live through this hour. 

Make our faith strong through Christ our Lord. Amen." (Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers)

Death and Grieving

The Catholics Come Home network provides spiritual and practical resources to help you better understand the Christian view of death and moral teachings regarding end of life issues, as well as help guide you through the process of grieving for a loved one you’ve lost through death. Christ reminds us in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blesses are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Our Heavenly Father wants us to find consolation in His loving arms.

The Catholic’s Divorce Survival Guide  There's no such thing as "Catholic divorce" but the bad news is Catholics do civilly divorce. The Catholic Divorce Survival Guide has been developed to help you and/or a loved one, and to encourage healing through the Sacraments where you will personally encounter Christ—with all His love and tender mercies. And that's the REALLY good news. Learn more about separation, divorce, Decrees of Nullity (Annulment), forgiveness, remarriage, redemptive suffering and more.

Decree of Nullity and Remarriage in the Catholic Church  Are you uncertain about your marital status? Do you wish to return to the sacraments? Are you seeking greater clarity or more information about the Church’s teaching and formal processes involved?  Please contact the Diocese of Crookston’s Marriage Tribunal.

If you would like to see any of these programs offered in your parish, please contact Deacon Mark Krejci at [email protected]. 

Marriage-Focused Programs

“A Blessed Marriage: The Message of the Beatitudes”
This couples retreat leads couples through a reflection on “The Beatitudes” from Matthew 5. The retreat can be offered as either a half-day or full-day format and is appropriate for married couples of all ages as well as engaged couples.

“The Christian Virtues in Your Marriage”
This retreat is for married and/or engaged couples and explores how to live the virtues of faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. These virtues are gifts from God which can help married couples focus their marriage on God’s plan for a sacramental marriage. This retreat can be offered as either a half-day or full-day format.

Family-Focused Programs
“Shepherding Them Home: Guiding our loved ones back to the Church"

This workshop is meant for family members who want to reach out to loved ones who have dropped-out of the Church or have stopped believing in God. Participants will learn about why people leave the faith, will practice how to begin the conversation and deal with challenging topics and will leave with a plan for approaching the “lost sheep” that they know. In addition, families with young children in the home are encouraged to attend because the workshop will also address what these parents need to do to promote the faith in light of an increasingly secularized culture. This workshop (or what I call a “Prayershop”) can be offered over four nights (1.5 hours each night) or in an all-day (6 hour) format.

“Theology of the Body for Teens”
This series of presentations on the Theology of the Body is geared toward high school students with parents also encouraged to attend. The teens are introduced to the great teaching of St. John Paul II and are shown how God created “in the beginning” to follow God’s holy and sacred plan for living as a male or female and what the union of sacramental marital love is meant to be. This will be contrasted with the secular view of marriage and human sexuality which results in a self-centeredness which does not sustain marriage or create a healthy family life. This can be offered in a one-day format or a two-session (1.5 hours) format during regularly scheduled RE classes. While parents are encouraged to attend so that they can learn how to have these crucial conversations with their children, the sessions can also be offered to only the students.

“How to talk about Chastity”
This 1.5 hour presentation prepares people to describe the Catholic understanding of the virtue of Chastity. Set within the context of the “virtues and the vices,”  this talk will help the participant develop a language to use with young people on the how and the why of practicing chastity within the context of living a virtuous life.

“Praying with the Family” in-home video series
This series of 8 videos, each lasting 4-6 minutes, introduces the listener to family prayer. The initial videos introduces marital prayer and the later ones present on praying with children. The videos are accompanied by links to documents which contain various prayers that families can use to enrich their prayer life. 

“Youth and the Body of Christ: Young People and Their Connection to the Church”
This one-hour presentation addresses the increasing numbers of high school students and young adults who drop out of the faith. The multi-year Diocese of Crookston Faith Development Survey data are presented and those who attend learn how to address a key finding in the survey. The survey discovered that when our high-school students answer “Yes” to the question: “Do you need a Church in order to be Religious” they also reported higher levels of religious belief, practice and engagement. However, only about 25% of our youth answer “Yes” to this question and so those who attend this presentation learn how to describe why someone needs the Church of Jesus Christ in order to have the fullness of religious faith. For those parishes who have already heard this presentation, a new format will be offered beginning in the Fall of 2018 which will include data updates.

Parish Mission
A parish mission: “Three Great Saints for Marriage, Family and Life,” looks at three saints and what they teach us about how to live in holy and healthy families and how following this call to live in a holy family can also result in a happy and joy-filled life. Thus, this retreat is meant for all members of a parish, those living in families, those married, those single and considering marriage, those widowed who find themselves alone, and those who are divorced. The mission begins with preaching at all Sunday Masses and then runs over the next three evenings for 1.5 hours. Parishes may wish to hold Mass earlier in the evening or just before the evening presentation depending on your typical parish practice.