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December 27, 2022By Mary Lim
“We believe there is a need to prepare engaged couples for the lifelong commitment of marriage. Marriage is a Sacrament in the Catholic Church and couples entering marriage deserve to be fully ready. We share our married experiences with the engaged couples in order to convey to them that while marriage is certainly hard work, it's also so rewarding to journey through life with your best friend whom you can share anything with." This is what volunteer presenting couple Juan and Gina De La Ossa have said about their ministry with Tucson Engaged Encounter.
About Engaged Encounter
Engaged Encounter is a worldwide program that was first developed in 1968 to help prepare Catholic engaged couples for the sacrament of marriage. A spinoff of “Marriage Encounter”, Engaged Encounter aims to create a retreat-like atmosphere to really give couples a chance to set the hustle and bustle of everyday life aside and focus just on each other and their relationship.
Engaged Encounter’s ministry has been serving couples in the Tucson area for over forty years now. For engaged couples in Tucson, there are four to five weekends per year that the two-day retreat is offered. A team of six well-seasoned married couples volunteer their time to put together a thoughtful weekend, and an additional five priests serve the program as well.
Martin and Delia De Soto have been volunteering with Engaged Encounter since 1997. They have seen the program evolve over the years. “We started at Regina Cleri with 48 couples on a weekend,” says the couple, “When Regina Cleri was made into a high school, we had to relocate our weekends to a hotel. We have since moved to the Pastoral Center at Saint Augustine with weekends now averaging 24 couples.”
Volunteering with Engaged Encounter
Volunteers Juan and Gina De La Ossa attended their own Engaged Encounter weekend retreat together in 1992 before they were married. “We received a lot of valuable information and wanted to give back,” they say, “We stay involved in Engaged Encounter because we both value marriage and we want the best for engaged couples. Engaged Encounter is a ministry we can do together as a couple, which in turn, strengthens our own marriage.”
Martin and Delia De Soto say that the biggest challenge to the Engaged Encounter ministry has been the lack of presenting couples and priests for the weekend. The cost for each couple for the weekend covers the cost of materials, meals, and venue – all who come together to make the weekend happen do so on a completely volunteer basis, because they believe in the mission of the ministry. The De Soto’s say that “the commitment is very flexible with priests and couples committing to one or two weekends per year. In order to keep this ministry running, we need volunteers.”
If you are a married couple and interested in supporting the Engaged Encounter ministry, you can submit your information on their website here.
Preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage
In their “Frequently Asked Questions” section of their website, Tucson Engaged Encounter explains that they offer a retreat that allows the engaged couple to focus on what it means to “become a sacrament.”
“Sacraments are ‘powers that come forth’ from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are ‘the masterworks of God’ in the new and everlasting covenant.” (CCC 1116)
"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.” (CCC 1601)
There are seven sacraments in the Church, given to us by Christ, to help give us grace as we strive for heaven. These sacraments are outward signs of the real grace that we receive when we receive those sacraments. What a gift and responsibility it is to become such a sign of the real love of God, called to live out his love to your beloved and to the Church in a unique way in marriage! This is the reality that the Engaged Encounter ministry is evangelizing. This is the magnitude of the calling to marriage that engaged couples need to prepare for.
Registering for an Engaged Encounter Weekend
There are 24 open slots for engaged couples to register for each weekend retreat. Retreats are two days, Saturdays and Sundays, and are done commuter style at the Bishop Kicanas Pastoral Center.
Visit the Tucson Engaged Encounter website to register for one of the four to five available weekends offered in a year. It is recommended that couples register for their Engaged Encounter retreat four to six months prior to their wedding date.Visit the Tucson Engaged Encounter website for further information on registration, frequently asked questions, or to volunteer.
About Vocations
Diocese of Tucson Engagement & Marriage Resources
Tucson Engaged Encounter