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.
Six Opportunities in So Cal – March 1-April 5
As a follow-up to National Marriage Week and in the spirit of the California Bishops’ Radiate Love Initiative, the Southern California Dioceses invite couples to Sacramental Adventures in Marriage! Each weekend March 1-April 5 there is an opportunity for couples to take part in this wonderful relationships skills building workshop, imbued with Catholic spirituality and principles.
Two workshops will be held in the Diocese of Orange:
- March 8 at the Pastoral Center in Garden Grove
- March 29 at St. John Neumann in Irvine
Other dates available in San Diego and San Bernardino.
All married couples are welcome, no matter your age or stage in life!
This offering is being sponsored by the Catholic Marriage Initiatives Fund and our local dioceses. We are excited to bring this to southern California, inspired by the CA bishops’ Radiate Love Initiative.
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.
For the pastoral year 2024-2025
California Catholic Conference of Bishops
“Radiate Love” is a statewide initiative of the California bishops to invite every Catholic to celebrate the beauty and goodness of marriage and the family. Each month from July 2024 to June 2025, the CCC will provide catechetical and liturgical resources around a different theme to help renew and deepen our Catholic faithful’s understanding and experience of sacramental marriage and the family.
Materials for the Radiate Love Initiative are now available on the website of the California Catholic Conference (CCC) or RadiateLove.info. Each month features a different theme. Check out the full calendar of dates and themes.
Monthly resources include intercessions and blessing for Mass, bulletin insert, social media graphics, homiletic guide, suggested activities for various parish ministries, and bulletin announcements. All these materials are available in English and in Spanish.
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.
Getting married?
Marriage formation for engaged couples
The sacrament of marriage is not a social convention, an empty ritual or merely the outward sign of a commitment. The sacrament is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses, since “their mutual belonging is a real representation, through the sacramental sign, of the same relationship between Christ and the Church. The married couple are therefore a permanent reminder for the Church of what took place on the cross; they are for one another and for their children witnesses of the salvation in which they share through the sacrament.”
Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia n. 72
Marriage
& Family
Formation
Pastoral
Care
