Catholic Marriage Resources
by Julie Zimmerman

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Dear Catholic Webmasters:

Chances are your parish church will hold weddings this summer and fall. Tens of thousands of weddings take place in U.S. Catholic churches every year, and the high season has arrived.

Many of those couples preparing for marriage will turn to the Internet for answers to their questions about Catholic weddings. In online ministry, we have a chance to remind people that Christian marriage is about more than just one festive day. We have an obligation to answer their questions about rehearsals and photographs and music for the ceremony, but we can also remind them of the sacramental nature of the marriage covenant.

Q U I C K S C A N

Parish Site of the Month
Worth a Click

At its foundation, marriage is a public statement about God. The celebration of this sacrament, like all others, reveals something about who God is and who God is for us. In the Scriptures the relationship between God and God's people is often described in terms of a marriage. The early Christians, reflecting on Christ's love for us, also used this image. Christ and the Church embrace in mutual love and self-giving, as do husband and wife.

But the sacramental sign in marriage, which the husband and wife give to each other, is also given to the entire community of witnesses. We have never seen God, but we can see the fidelity of Christian husbands and wives. Their love for each other is a sacramental sign and witness of God's love for us.

With this in mind, consider the following ideas for promoting marriage on your site:

1. If you run a parish site, let engaged couples know what they'll need to do to marry in the parish church. This usually includes contacting the parish at least six months in advance, obtaining a recent copy of baptismal certificates, going through a marriage preparation course, and going through an interview with a priest or deacon. Add any local requirements that exist.

2. Let couples know about marriage-enrichment programs in your area. These include Engaged Encounter for couples preparing to marry, Marriage Encounter for those looking to deepen their commitment, and Retrouvaille for troubled marriages. The Web sites have info on dates and locations across the U.S.

3. AmericanCatholic.org's feature on the Sacrament of Marriage has articles and FAQs on marriage, including how to help interchurch marriages succeed and the importance of forgiveness in marriage. Feel free to link to it from your site.

4. The Web site of Diocese of Wheeling, West Virginia, has a terrific list of questions and answers on marriage. A similar list on your site would be a helpful addition, if your pastor or someone involved in marriage preparation has the time to write down the questions they receive most frequently.

5. People who have been married before, or who wish to marry someone with a prior marriage, often have questions about the Church's marriage laws and annulments. The marriage section at OnceCatholic.org provides material on the topic and trained companions ready to explain what the Church teaches and why.

With the wedding season upon us, let's vow to reach out to couples—the newly engaged, the young parents, the empty nesters, both happily and not-so-happily married—to help them live out the Sacrament of Marriage.

Julie Zimmerman
Managing editor, AmericanCatholic.org and sister sites

Next month: Healing the Crisis in the Church (by John Bookser Feister)

Parish Site of the Month

Church of the Holy Family, Diocese of Lansing
At first glance this looks like a typical parish site, with a Mass schedule, pastor's welcome letter and other standard features. But the Holy Family site is designed to allow anyone—people with visual or hearing disabilities, slow Internet connections, non-standard browsers or impaired comprehension—to use their site comfortably. The parish explains the hows and whys on a dedicated site page. With so many sites that are lovely but hard to use, it's worth considering what can be done to improve the accessibility of sites you work on.

Worth a Click

ASSISTING IRAQ THROUGH PRAYER
Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services has delivered humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq since the end of the first Gulf War. Although the latest fighting has ended, CRS's work in the country is expected to continue for years. Their site offers a Marian prayer service, a Power Point presentation that uses the Peace Prayer of St. Francis and images of Iraqi citizens, and other resources to educate and raise awareness about the crisis that remains in the aftermath of war.

WHAT'S THE FIRST READING ON MARCH 22, 2007?
The Catholic Calendar Page
This handy little calendar lets you know the readings, vestment colors, liturgical seasons and years and even rosary mysteries for any given day far into the future. Need to know what day of the week the Feast of the Assumption falls on in 2014? Not only will the calendar tell you it's a Friday, it will also give you the gospel reading for the day (Luke 1:39-56). OK, there's some potential for wasting time here, but it's also a helpful planning tool for Webmasters and others who need to know Catholic calendar.

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