The Vatican has endorsed “inspiring and very human” marriage support materials written by a lay group from the diocese of Brentwood.
Bishop Jean Laffitte, Secretary for the Pontifical Council for the Family, agreed to write a foreword to a collection of short Scripture reflections written by a group called Two in One Flesh, which is made up of five couples and a priest.
The French prelate gave his endorsement after meeting the co-ordinators of the group, Brian and Maureen Devine, in Rome ahead of the bishops’ Synod on Marriage and the Family.
The website of the Pontifical Council for the Family praised the reflections, saying: “These inspiring and very human considerations sow seeds of hope, offer meaningful challenges and encourage an openness in couples to deepen their relationship with each other and with God.”
The collection, called Marriage Matters, will be available online free of charge for Advent this year.
The collection is an abbreviated version of the group’s longer Scripture reflections for couples, entitled I am with you.
Mr Devine explained: “I am with you is a useful resource and we wanted to find ways to offer it to a wider audience.”
Mrs Devine said: “We shared with the bishop the group’s real concern that while marriage remains subsumed under the general heading of ‘family’, the beauty, wonder, sacredness, humanness, hardworking nature and joy of marriage gets lost.”
The Two in One Flesh group will make their new resource available to all parishes and marriage groups, for newsletters, websites or blogs as an aid to supporting married couples seeking to live out the Sacrament of Matrimony. Marriage Matters will be available to download, free of charge, by the beginning of November at www.twoinoneflesh.org.uk.
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