Together in Holiness conference on April 22 seeks to ‘build domestic Church’
Sebastian, left, Ella, Angie and Benjamin Moster, members of St. Louis Parish in Batesville, kneel in prayer on Sept. 27, 2015, beside the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia during the closing Mass of the eighth World of Meeting of Families. The Together in Holiness conference on April 22 at St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis and the following seven-week formation series are meant to help build the domestic Church in the archdiocese. (File photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Natalie Hoefer
The archdiocese’s first Together in Holiness conference for married and engaged couples will take place at St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis on April 22.
The conference is “a marriage enrichment initiative that inspires couples to grow together in holiness and empowers and equips parents to form their children in the Catholic faith,” says Susie Lopez, vice president of operations for the St. John Paul II Foundation that developed the conference.
She notes that the conference “is unique in that it offers a place of encounter, where God’s plan for marriage and family is proclaimed and a desire for holiness is enkindled in the hearts of married couples.”
The one-day conference is sponsored by St. Jude, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, and Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood.
It includes talks from local and national speakers as well as a representative from the St. John Paul II Foundation. Adoration and the sacrament of reconciliation will also be available.
For couples who wish to continue enriching their marriage—whether or not they attend the conference—a seven-week Together in Holiness formation series will be offered starting in May.
Lopez describes the series as small groups of four to six couples gathering “to explore a particular theme based on the life, teaching and witness of St. John Paul II.”
At the gatherings, couples share a meal, watch a brief video and have guided prayer, Scripture and discussion lead by a St. John Paul II Foundation-trained couple.
Having a ministry like Together in Holiness available in the archdiocese “is something that’s been on our hearts for a while,” says Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary parishioner Michelle Overholt, who with her husband Michael will speak at the event.
‘Vocation of marriage has been short-changed’
The Indianapolis event was the vision of Father C. Ryan McCarthy, pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
He recalls talking with St. Jude pastor Father Peter Marshall and Our Lady of the Greenwood pastor Father Todd Goodson about “the common trends we noticed of divorce and all the affects divorce has on society, the decline in the number of people getting married and all the other difficulties in society based on how marriage is seen in our contemporary day and age.”
The three pastors decided to take action. Father McCarthy knew of Together in Holiness through his acquaintance with one of the founders of the St. John Paul II Foundation. Father McCarthy asked the Overholts to coordinate the effort to host a conference in the archdiocese.
The couple founded the One in Christ marriage preparation program in 2013, both eventually retiring from lucrative jobs to devote their time to the ministry.
But the Overholts know more formation is needed for Catholic couples.
The Church has “given time and effort to form priests and religious, but formation for the vocation of marriage has been short-changed,” says Michael.
His wife agrees.
“One of the things we hear from these young engaged couples is that they want other couples to accompany them in their married life, friends who will help build virtue and run that race together,” says Michelle. “The goal [of Together in Holiness] is not just to build the domestic Church, but to build friendships and other couples you can journey with,” while also empowering parents as “the primary faith educators of their children and [to] give them tools for how to navigate that.”
‘The perfect, bite-sized conference’
Nine years after its founding, the Together in Holiness conference has been offered in diocese across the country, 17 of which have active ongoing formation groups.
One conference attendee featured on a conference press release said the day “was the perfect, bite-sized conference where every detail was handled so well that all that was left for us to do was to be filled by amazing speakers, generous hosts, and time to spend reconnecting with each other on how we can achieve our daily mission of bringing Jesus into our home. Every presentation had a concrete action that would take little effort on our part but would make a big impact in our marriage and family.”
The hope is to offer the retreat annually, says Father McCarthy. A second hope is for more archdiocesan parishes or parish groups to participate in the Together in Holiness formation series.
He, Father Marshall, Father Goodson and One in Christ are taking action to fulfill that vision.
“Thanks to the generosity of St. Jude, Holy Rosary, Our Lady of the Greenwood and One in Christ, a discount is being offered to parishes and couples within the archdiocese who would like to implement the formation series at their parish,” says Lopez.
Father McCarthy hopes the conference and formation series “strengthen holy marriages. From that, hopefully it will build children and grandchildren who are stronger and more dedicated to the faith.”
Father McCarthy admits “we spend far too little of our resources investing back into marriages and families, the foundational building block of our culture. I look forward to seeing what happens when we spend more resources building up the basis of our society.”
(The Together in Holiness conference will take place at St. Jude Parish, 5353 McFarland Road, in Indianapolis, from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on April 22. Tickets are $40 per individual and $64 per couple. Childcare for children ages 2-12 is $5 per child. Lunch is included. For more information or to register, go to forlifeandfamily.org/events/th23-inin or contact conference coordinator Sydney Vacek at sydney@forlifeandfamily.org. For more information on the Together in Holiness formation series or to participate, contact program coordinator Thomas Wheeler at thomas@forlifeandfamily.org.) †
