The Office for Family Life fosters a family perspective in Church and society that promotes ministry to, with, by, and for families in all stages. The Office supports marriage formation and pastoral care to advance the missionary discipleship of the Domestic Church in the Diocese of Orange.
The bishops of California have declared Saturday, July 26, the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, as the Jubilee of Marriage during this powerful Jubilee Year of Hope. The vocation of marriage truly is a sign of hope!
The Diocese of Orange will celebrate the Marriage Jubilee with a Mass at Christ Cathedral in the Arboretum on Saturday, July 26 at 11:30 am. All couples and families are invited to make this pilgrimage to our cathedral campus and to receive a plenary indulgence.
First 100 couples to RSVP will receive free Radiate Love T-shirts!
*RSVP not required to attend; all are welcome!
Are you ready for an adventure with God?
It’s the 10-year anniversary of Laudato Si’
This summer, participate in a Creation Camino with your family and rediscover the connection of faith, the Creation, and mental wellness in the outdoors. You can sign up HERE for one of 2 led hikes on September 13 and 27. Spots are limited so register soon!
OR
Participate on your own in the Creation Camino Challenge by downloading or taking a copy of our Field Guide of reflections/prayers and snapping a photo for our socials #CreationCamino for a chance to win family-fun eco friendly prizes! Learn more about these programs and other ways to care for the earth at: rcbo.org/common-home
“The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change” (LS 13). -Pope Francis
Catholic Marriage is unique among other marital relationships because it is a sacrament that makes Christ present in our world. The relationship between husband and wife mirrors the relationship of Jesus Christ for his people. In the Catholic tradition, the husband and wife accept a role in God’s plan for humanity. They are ambassadors of God’s love, and they collaborate with God to keep humanity alive.
The vows exchanged by the couple are a sacred pact through which the spouses embrace each other, and, together, embrace Jesus as their partner. Through their union with Christ, they participate in the unbreakable pact between God and humanity: the covenant that was sealed in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Hope and Healing After Abortion
The Church understands and cares
Hope and Healing After Abortion is a sensitive, private, confidential experience of accompaniment. Our volunteers aim to provide a caring, compassionate, and non-judgmental presence for anyone who is suffering from the affects of abortion and who is seeking reconciliation with God and their faith community.
Our annual one-day retreat for women impacted by abortion are coming up this winter/spring.
English retreat on Feb. 1, 2025 in Orange, CA: https://forms.office.com/r/wpyMdNNVyD
Spanish retreat on March 15, 2025 in Sierra Madre, CA: https://forms.office.com/r/egReCD8t5Y
Support Changes Everything
Pregnant? Need Help?
Local help is available: pregnancy clinics and centers, shelters and food distribution, mental health support, and resources for maternal and perinatal health.
Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life
Marriage is a sign for us that we humans were created by and for love. Recognizing the challenges that couples face in realizing this truth in our own relationships and families, the Holy Father Pope Francis called for a renewal of marriage preparation in his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
“The complexity of today’s society and the challenges faced by the family require a greater effort on the part of the whole Christian community in preparing those who are about to be married. …the Synod Fathers agreed on the need to involve the entire community more extensively by stressing the witness of families themselves and by grounding marriage preparation in the process of Christian initiation by bringing out the connection between marriage, baptism, and the other sacraments.” (Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia n. 206)
St. John Paul II already described in Familiaris Consortio that formation for marriage is in fact a gradual, lifelong process, starting at birth in one’s own family of origin. Pope Francis develops this further in Amoris Laetitia, indicating that marriage preparation needs to imitate the catechumenate, having as its goal the formation of missionary disciples of Jesus Christ who will build their domestic churches for the glory of God. This entails not a mere program but a process to which we are inviting couples and our local Church to journey together. Accompaniment is an especially important aspect of this process, as couples are being formed to live authentic relationships and love, which requires not only knowledge and understanding but living witness of love before them.
“Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.”
-Saint John Paul II
Like formation for Holy Orders, formation for the vocation of marriage is formation for ministry, which requires human, spiritual, intellectual, and missionary formation that continues over a lifetime. The Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has presented the Church with a framework for such a preparation for marriage in Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life. The local churches have been directed to pastorally implement this process in the complex realities of our current life. Join us in realizing this vision, with the companionship of other dioceses in the United States and the world and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Marriage
& Family
Formation
Pastoral
Care
