Rev Fr Nards Mercene of the Filipino Chaplaincy of the Archdiocese of Sydney held a memorable Marriage Enrichment Seminar (MES) for several Filipino Australian couples at St Ezekiel Moreno/Augustinian Recollect Sisters Convent at 174 Hill End Road, Doonside last February 15 and 16 2014.Participants comprised of Mike and Des Dela Cruz; John and Frances Ebron ; Rey and Janet Esteban;
Jor and Jose Jhamboy; Paul and Divine Macaraeg; Rene and Cris Pailan; Ed and Nelda Quicho; Boyet and Ruth Roxas; . Edmundo and Hydie Sapitula; and Jonas and Momay Sarza
Fr. Nards Mercene initiated the first MES for the Filipino community in the Archdiocese of Sydney in 1988;
According to Fr Mercenet, the seminar is an interactive one with conferences and activities based on specified guidelines. “Its aim is a spirituality that can sustain married couples through difficult times, help them re-discover each other, nourish their lives together and enable them to be more enriching to each other and strengthen their marital and family bonds based on Australian cultural environment and lifestyle making their relationship not simply living together but one which offers each partner a truly rewarding, fulfilling, and intimate experience.
Some of the topics covered are : “The Goals of Marriage” , “Responsible parenthood”, “Communication in Marriage”, “Marriage as a Vocation” and Family’s Responsibility to Society and the Church”.
Schedule and venue
The two-day seminar starts on a Saturday from 9:00am to 4:30pm and Sunday, 9:00am to 3:30pm. The seminar concludes with a Holy Mass where the participants renew their marriage vows, graduation, and fellowship.
The service team provide and serve participants with everything ie.. breakfast, morning tea, lunch, child minding etc..Fr. Nards delivers all lectures. There is no fee involved.
The monthly MES is held at the St. Ezekiel Moreno Convent of the Order of Augustinian Recollects Sisters at 174 Hill End Road, Doonside.Recent statistics show alarmingly increasing reports of marital conflicts and a rising incidence of separations among married couples.
Various economic and social factors, as well are changing moral and spiritual values of the Filipinos brought about by the new culture and lifestyle in the adopted country.The MES team identify them as 1. The priorities given to work, baby-sitting, material things etc., lessen their time for each other. 2. Financial and relationship concerns involving relatives here and in the Philippines 3. Mortgages and other debts that are common problems of young couples aggravated by household chores and the lack of support., 4. Domestic quarrels caused by the inability and unwillingness to communicate sensibly with each other that also affects the rearing and disciplining of children.
According to Fr Mercene, these are some of the factors that erode the stability of the relationship of many marriages causing the loss of mutual respect, support, and love between the spouses.
“The Marriage enrichment Seminar was designed to address these problems in a straight forward way. And so far a good number of successfully assisted couples in its 25 years of dedicated efforts look back to it in gratitude as they move forward to a renewed life,” Fr Mercene said.
All couples whether they are married in the church or by a marriage celebrant, or are living together but are intending to get married in the church may attend the Seminar. Contact persons to ring for more information: Fr. Nards Mercene: H-9604 5512, M-0410 505 177, Manding Abogado: H-9610 8478, M-0413 147 740 and Annie Abogado M-0411 637 002.