Married Couples on Fire!

Spiritual exercises of the Verbum Dei missionary married couples

The Verbum Dei Married Couples Branch (MCB) in the Philippines did a 3 day on line retreat recently from May 28-30, 2020.

The topic was the Holy Spirit and various themes were addressed including the Spirit helps us to pray, the Spirit battles for our consecration, and the Spirit gives fire in the mission. Guidelines were given via Zoom by Poncho and Adriana Martinez, the General responsibles of the MCB worldwide, Marisol and Antonio (Spanish members of the MCB with perpetual bonds) and by James McTavish.

The couples were invited to “Seize the fire, missionaries of the Word of God!” (Fr Jaime Bonet, FMVD). The retreat was also a time for the couples to pause, reflect and breath in the Holy Spirit knowing as Pope Francis stated that families and “the Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer” (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 262). The missionary married couples are also guided by our Verbum Dei directory: “We will strive to make real a contemplative-active life from our various personal, marital and family situations” (Directory, Married couples, n. 22).

The couples experienced various fruits from the retreat such as joy, perseverance and boldness - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). How great is the Holy Spirit - he is never in lockdown!

We continue to pray for the growth and spread of the Verbum Dei married couples branch.