November 17, 18,19, 2000. We have been so blessed to experience this wonderful event that God has reserved for us.
SEE BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT OUR RETREAT EXPERIENCE!
PREP stands for Preparation and Reflection for Engaged Partners, it is a weekend marriage preparation program that is
held at retreat houses in the Diocese of Oakland or adjacent counties. Led by a trained team, it is an opportunity for
engaged couples to reflect on these areas pertinent to married living: Marriage Today, Family of Origin, Communication
in Marriage, God and Marriage, Sexuality in Marriage, Sacrament of Matrimony, Areas Difficult to Discuss. The weekend
begins with registration at 7:00 PM on Friday and concludes with Mass on Sunday at 4:00 PM.
The rite of Christian initation...is designed for adults who, after hearing the mystery of Christ proclaimed,
consciously and freely seek the living God and enter the way of faith and conversion as the Holy Spirit opens
their hearts. By God's help they will be strengthened spiritually during their preparation and at the proper time will
receive the sacraments fruitfully ---Joe Rodrigues, RCIA Director, Church Of The Assumption, San Leandro, CA.
The Beauty in Your Heart !
The beauty in thy voice I hear Close to You I want to be near
You sing the sweetest songs to me, How can I go on with out thee?
From your heart to mine, Until the end of time,
You are deep in my heart & in my soul,
I promise to never ever let you go,
I will love you forevermore, Never to close the door,
You are the white rose, That I have chose,
You are the flower, That brings me April showers,
When I think of you, I no longer feel blue,
Mercy is Love and God is Love, You are a true Gift from the Lord above,
One Love shared by two, Two hearts that beat as one.
You are everything and Everything is You..
I do Cherish thee, Mercy, From here to eternity,
Now and forevermore, Even in death we shall not part or mourn.
Love,Mike 8/3/99
The paths that we've traveled,
The footprints we've made,
The dances we've danced,
The tears we've cried,
The moments we've
shared... Forevermore..
From Mike
The two days that Mercy & I had spent at the San Damiano Retreat House were set in beautiful scenes of nature as shown in the above pictures. We even saw families of live deer out in the wild looking gently back at us. The natural beauty that surrounded us helped us in our endeavors for the weekend.
Among the many topics that were covered at the retreat, COMMUNICATION seemed to be the one that kept coming up time & again � the importance of OPEN COMMUNICATION could not be stressed enough. But even if all else seemed to fail in our marriage, including communication, the one thing that must not fail is our abiding Love & Faith in GOD, for God is Love� He is the reason for our being united together eternally in God�s Perfect Love. If we lost everything, we shall be rewarded by God with more than what we had prayed for through our sheer faith in GOD. GOD is TRULY AWESOME!
We ended our Engaged Encounter Retreat experience by writing each other a love letter.. we would like to share those letters with you�
�To my everdearest husband, honey, fiance, Angel Michael,
I am writing this letter to tell you how much I love you and how much I am thankful for the wonderful gift � YOU � I promise to grow with you with our never-ending faith in God as the main reason that we are together. I love you because you are the gift that/who God has planned and reserved for me in my life.. and you�re worth waiting for. I am so very blessed to find you and I can�t wait to receive the sacrament of marriage with you. This means a lot to me. Our Civil Wedding is important by law but our Church Wedding is important above all. We are totally committing ourselves to each other and the bond that shall tie us together is inseparable by any man.
I love you for your simplicity, everything about you, your strength and your weaknesses. As my love letter says, you are my own reflection. God has taught me first how to be lovable, kind, honest, name all the holy adjectives you can� He made me like this before I met you in order for me to be the deserved person to be married to you. God created us so perfectly and this bond is a real testimony of how awesome His creations are.
This weekend has been very memorable for me�it revealed the real inside of me that we don�t normally find times to express. I love the thought that we�re attentive to one thing� no other interruptions. I love the thought of us both reading the bible. I love the thought of us having lunch together. I love the thought of us being able to share our own selves. I love the thought that you were able to express to me your thoughts � that I always long to hear everyday. I love the thought that you learned that my belief in marriage is so sacred, that it is not just trial & error. I love the thought of us sitting next to each other the whole day. I love the thoughts that even though we had arguments when we came here that we were able to stay to the end. I love the thought that you win me back during my difficult times to deal with our arguments. I can fill all these pages but still not express enough� Most important of all, I love the thoughts that you are here with me and committing yourself to me for the rest of our lives.. I LOVE YOU!!
Like what I have said, learning about each other is an everyday thing. We can�t expect the roads to be straight and smooth everyday. But I would like to tell you again and again that I love you with the Love of the Lord and no one and nothing can change that. Like what you have heard earlier, I will be like the sun that will always shine in the east� you may not see me sometimes because I�ll be covered by the clouds, but I�d like to tell you after the rain, even during the rain, I will always be there, just come back � I LOVE YOU� Angel Mercy�
�To My Eversweetest & most Dearest Honey & Wife Angel Mercy,
This weekend has truly been another one of God�s many blessings to us. Many things have been revealed to us which are designed to help us in our marriage. Honey, I am not perfect� I may not be the strongest leader or best communicator, but one thing is for sure� I DO LOVE YOU MERCEDITA CUSTODIO PIGUING now & forever�
With God�s abiding love between us, there is nothing that we can�t do together� we can overcome any obstacles through Christ � we proved it this weekend in lieu of our disagreements.
Honey, I want to be the strong leader in our family� I knock on God�s door & pray for it.
Thank you honey for being there with me.. I appreciate all you�ve done (cooking, laundry, cleaning, fixing my baon, etc.) � I don�t want you to carry that burden all the time � I want to share in that. Together, with God, we can make our marriage joyous, balanced and fruitful for our family as well as others in God�s time & with His blessings. Amen.
I Love You Always,
Your Husband Eternally,
Angel Mike�
of the Assumption. It turned out to be the best decision we made together as a couple and really gave us the spiritual "jump start" that we very much needed in our (civil) marriage. We truly believe that GOD brought us together and had led us to Couples for Christ. The special people who embody Couples for Christ are Christians are joined together by a common thread - that thread is our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ who provides all good things in our lives through His gracious blessings upon us.
Something to think about:
If you take away the CHRIST in CHRISTIAN, you are left with I. A. N., which stands for I AM NOTHING. The only
way to live happily, harmoniously, completely, and contently is to always put Jesus first in all that we say & do...
WWJD?
To find out more about Couples for Christ and how to become a part of this blessed & growing global community, click on:
http://www.cfcglobal.com/index2.htm