The Future of Civilization
Depends on Marriage and Family.
Join Our Novena of Masses for Marriage Today!
,
You've probably already noticed the heart shaped balloons and boxes of chocolate overflowing the grocery store displays. Our culture is indeed infatuated with the idea of love.
But as Christians, we know that true love is about sacrifice and total self-giving. In particular, Jesus elevated the joining of two persons in marriage to a sacrament in which the two "become one flesh."
Yet, one only needs to watch the latest sitcom, read the newspaper or browse their Facebook feed to see that marriage in our country and across the world is under attack. It is undergoing a deep transformation, a transformation away from God's plan. The enemy wants to counterfeit, confuse, divide, and destroy marriage and family life.
"The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about Marriage and the Family," wrote Servant of God and Fatima seer Lucia dos Santos, in a letter to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra. "Don't be afraid, because whoever works for the sanctity of Marriage and the Family will always be fought against and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue." S
he concluded, "However, Our Lady has already crushed its head
."
These words send a chill through my spine and I believe them to be true.
At Living His Life Abundantly® / Women of Grace®, it is our deepest desire to do all that we can to uphold and protect the sanctity of marriage and family life. In fact, we have a thirty year history of defending marriage.
This year, we will again be offering a special novena of masses in honor of the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony, which will coincide with World Marriage Day and the celebration of St. Valentine's Day.
Rev. Father Alfred Okumu, a priest of the Archdiocese of GULU in Uganda, will celebrate a Novena of Masses beginning on February 6th and ending on the Feast of St. Valentine's Day, February 14th. He will be praying specifically for those who are married, for those struggling in marriage, and marriage in general, which is so under attack here in the United States and around the world.
Father Okumu was ordained on July 4, 2014. His first appointment was on October 30, 2014 to serve as Associate pastor at Blessed Daudi Okello and Jildo Irwa Parish in Pader Town. His second appointment to serve as Associate pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Lacor in GULU Vicariate was on April 21, 2017 where he is ministering to date. His prayer is that God will bless and strengthen the love of married couples for each other.
I invite you to use the link below to send me the names of your friends and loved ones who are married, engaged to be married, and those who are struggling in their marriages, so that we may offer this Novena of Masses for their spiritual or temporal needs. In this way, we can truly honor this Sacrament and those who have been called to live it out in the challenging times in which we live. My prayer is that these Masses will be a source of abundant grace, protection, and healing for marriages.
Let us together protect and pray for marriage, for as our Saint John Paul II, of happy memory, affirmed, "the future of the world and of the Church passes through the family."
May the abundant life of Jesus Christ be yours and may God bless you!
In His Service,
Johnnette S. Benkovic
Founder and President
Women of Grace®
Living His Life Abundantly®
