50 years of being Good News for the bride and groom (By Father Felix)

At Encuentro Católico para Novios we are celebrating, deeply grateful to the Lord, for these first 50 years of presence in our world. We seek to be good news for young people who discover themselves called to live their marital vocation. In this space where we evangelize each other, since couples who promote this lifestyle, this way of being church, have discovered that "The Christian announcement regarding the family is truly good news" (AL,1) [1] who, in a testimonial and creative way, seek to share their sacramental journey with the priests and religious who live a weekend.

1. Baptismal and missionary consciousness:

The members of ECN have become aware of the Lord's invitation to follow him ( Mk 6, 7-13), living their vocation with fidelity and service. This way of living one's sacramental vocation is already a new way of speaking about God and the minimum expression of living the values of the community, where peace, forgiveness, healing, inclusion, sharing, must be expressed with works and words sustained by the wifely love of Jesus with his Church.

In the apostles' experience with Jesus (Mc 6, 7-13) they share with us the steps to live the apostolic vocation: from dispersion to following; from following the communion of life with Jesus; from communion with Him to mission. Jesus associates his disciples fully with his mission, making them participate in his life and what he announces. For us, the steps we are taking are: engaged couples scattered in so many places, team couples, priests and religious who, living a weekend, our encounter with Jesus, become aware of our beautiful dignity as children of God, Once again we rediscover ourselves called by love to live the sacrament of marriage, to recognize the richness of inter-sacramental communion, to make our journey together in community.

2. ECN Itinerant Vocation

Apparently, Jesus imagines his people as pilgrims of hope (Mc 6, 7-13), always on the road, open to new things. The spirituality of ECN, for its part, seeks for us to be attentive, open to learning from each other, of the different stages and processes of married life, finding ourselves in these processes of evangelization allow us to live as adults in faith. We discover ourselves assimilating for life the rich stages of life, the circumstances, the crises, the pains, they give us. the opportunity to see with the gaze of faith, hope and charity, the ability to be present like Jesus, wherever someone needs us and that is where our efforts are directed.

3. Marriage vocation in clay vessels (2 Cor 4:7-15)

We are aware that this apostolate is held in our fragile hands, because we do not forget that we are limited and fragile people, but convinced that we are fertile land, in which God always works, when we allow him to. With this perspective, we have approached a new group of friends, who are becoming family, an ecclesial community for the service of our brothers. With this process, we are training ourselves to face the crises of our time.

4. Much to be grateful and renew our yes to the Lord

The vast majority of those who have participated in a weekend , the team couples, the engaged couples, the service communities, the followers, the priests and religious in these 50 years, have encountered Jesus Christ, who has invited to follow him and work to build the civilization of love in community.

It's a good time to say Thank you to the great family of ECN on its 50th anniversary, for sharing your charisma for marriage and family, for the project of forming families and life-giving communities, thank you for reminding us of the value of friendship, patience, forgiveness , of service, of generosity, of sharing, of joy, of compassion, ... that allow us to continue healing our lives and those of our wounded world, with the Love that makes us more friends and more brothers in the Lord than He has called us to follow him.

[1] Amoris laetitia , 1