Bulletin Inserts
Eight bulletin inserts have been provided in
The Future Depends on Love parish resource binders and
are also available
here. Suggested dates for using these inserts are given along with the homiletic aids.
1. Marriage: At the Heart of Social Justice
2. Marriage:
God's Loving Plan for Sex
3. What the Church Teaches, social science confirms: Marriage is Good for Husbands, for Wives, and for their Children
4. Body Language:
Speaking the Truth with Our Bodies
5. God will not leave us:
How Lifelong Married Love shows God to the World
6. The Benefits for Marriage of
Cherishing Fertility
7. Marriage versus Cohabitation:
Is There a Difference?
8. More than a Wedding:
Why get Married in the Church?
Download the Bulletin Inserts here.
Homiletic Aids
PURPOSE
The following homiletic suggestions are meant to provide a progressive introduction to the Church’s
teaching on marriage.
USES
They can be used:
1. to provide an occasional homiletic reference to marriage;
2. to present a complete homily on marriage;
3. to develop a comprehensive catechesis on marriage stretching over a longer period of
time; and/or
4. as material for a “From the Pastor” column.
PEDAGOGY
The introductory suggestions for the fall emphasize the themes encapsulated in
Gaudium et spes, 24:
Man cannot find fulfillment except through a sincere
gift of self. These suggestions aim to make
holiness attractive again. Many of the homilies and bulletin excerpts focus on
trusting God’s will,
especially as expressed in the moral law. They emphasize that
true freedom is the freedom to love well and
that the moral law is not an arbitrary imposition but rather God’s wise design that leads to the
fulfillment of our humanity: true happiness.
In the winter, the focus shifts from this more general catechesis to presenting particular issues related to
the theology of marriage. The homiletic suggestions are somewhat longer for these weeks, since the
specific issues addressed require a little more unpacking to be comprehensible to congregations.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
The passages in bold are excerpts from Church documents that can run in the weekly bulletin, if
desired. They correspond thematically to the homily suggestions. They are available below as JOG files in the "Bulletin Briefs" section.
If you would like to have these passages in a formatted pdf with the logo of The Future Depends on
Love for your bulletin, please give
The Future Depends on Love an email address, contact Kathy Magno
Phone:
Email:
WEEKLY THEMES
Download the individual PDFs here.
Bulletin Briefs
Want to provide parishioners with a deeper knowledge of what the Church teaches about marriage and sexuality? Put a weekly The Future Depends on Love “bulletin brief” into your bulletin. Please note that the dates given below are suggestions for use; these bulletin briefs can run at any time.
Download the Bulletin Briefs here.
Suggested Calendar
The following is the suggested timeline for using The Future Depends on Love’s parish resources for your bulletin.
August 24, 2008,
Week #1:
God’s desire for our happiness; moral laws lead to happiness.
August 31, 2008,
Week #2:
True freedom is the freedom to do the good.
September 7, 2008,
Week #3:
True freedom is love that is guided by truth.
Suggested bulletin insert: Marriage: God’s Loving Plan for Sex
September 14, 2008 (Triumph of the Holy Cross),
Week #4:
We are made for self-gift. Marriage, priesthood, and religious life are all about self-gift.
September 21, 2008,
Week #5:
God’s moral law leads to our happiness and well-being.
Suggested bulletin insert: What the Church Teaches, Social Science Confirms
September 28, 2008,
Week #6:
God and the Church want to heal us of our sins.
October 5, 2008,
Week #7:
The importance of purity and chastity for true freedom.
Suggested bulletin insert: Body Language: Speaking the Truth with Our Bodies
October 12, 2008,
Week #8:
Christ is the Bridegroom because He loves the Church with a life-giving love even unto death.
Suggested bulletin insert: More Than a Wedding: Why Get Married in the Church?
October 19, 2008,
Week #9:
Marriage and the family should be promoted in civic affairs.
October 26, 2008,
Week #10:
Fostering the vocation to love in our society.
Suggested bulletin insert: Cohabitation vs. Marriage: What’s the Difference?
November 2, 2008 (All Souls), Week #11:
Life in heaven and the value of life on earth.
Suggested bulletin insert: Marriage at the Heart of Social Justice
November 9, 2008 (Dedication of St. John Lateran), Week #12:
The dignity of every human being and the dignity of the baptized.
November 16, 2008, Week #13:
Openness to, and education of, children as a responsibility of parents.
November 23, 2008 (Christ the King), Week #14:
Living justly in my intimate relationships.
November 30, 2008 (First Sunday of Advent), Week #15:
God’s mercy and our need for the sacraments.
December 7, 2008 (Second Sunday of Advent), Week #16:
Justice in our sexual relationships requires indissolubility.
Suggested bulletin insert: God Will Not Leave Us: How Lifelong Married Love Shows God to the World
December 14, 2008 (Third Sunday of Advent), Week #17:
Our hunger for God is filled by His faithful and fruitful love, which gives us joy.
December 21, 2008 (Fourth Sunday of Advent), Week #18:
Openness to life and the use of natural family planning.
Suggested bulletin insert: The Benefits for Marriage of Cherishing Fertility
December 28, 2008 (The Holy Family), Week #19:
God created families.
Suggested bulletin insert IF NOT ALREADY USED ON 9/21 (WEEK 5): What the Church Teaches, Social Science Confirms
January 4, 2009, Week #20:
The goodness of our bodies and the need for chastity.
January 11, 2009 (Baptism of the Lord), Week #21:
Loving in marriage as God loves.
January 18, 2009, Week #22:
The universal call to holiness and cohabitation.
Suggested bulletin insert IF NOT ALREADY USED ON 10/26 (WEEK 10): Cohabitation vs. Marriage: What’s the Difference?
Thank you for all that you do in service of the church!
The Massachusetts Catholic Conference hopes that these materials will be helpful to
your ministry!
