MATRIMONIOS
PARA CRISTO MASS WEDDING
November 13, 2010 may have been an ordinary day
for most people. But for the CFC-FFL community in
New Jersey, this is a special day. Almost all top
leaders and members in central Jersey woke up that
morning, excited to execute their given tasks to
make the wedding of 5 “Parehas” of Matrimonios
Para Cristo (MPC) NJ a reality! One cannot imagine
them “living together” for a 20 or 25
some years without the benefit of the graces from
the Sacrament of Matrimony. Whatever are the reasons-
lack of money or cumbersome application requirements
or lukewarm conviction to get married in church
– were overcome to make this day an affirmation
of CFC FFL’s mission - supporting family renewal
and defending life.
On
July 25, 2010, 14 Hispanic couples graduated from
our Seminario de Vida Cristiana (CLS in English)
at St. Paul Church in Jersey City. While the dedication
ceremony was being concluded by our MPC USA National
Director, Edwin & Nila Andrews, the registration
forms revealed that 7 of the 14 couples were still
unmarried. Interestingly, each couple has a long
list of names of their children, grandchildren and
even great grandchildren. Our Service Team, led
by the Andrews; Teny Mardo, full time missionary
from Argentina; Nydia Rodriguez, Servias servant
leader, Oscar & Lulu Sychua, Ed & Em Rana,
Jerry & Angie Pimentel and ourselves prayed
for God’s wisdom in handling these unwed couples.
Several options came up: (1) set up a Hispanic version
of Jacob’s Well, CFC FFL’s ministry
for unwed couples, (2) delay any decision on the
unwed couples by allowing them to join MPC or (3)
get them into MPC households & work for their
marriage in Church. Padre Felipe Lopez, parochial
vicar at St. Paul, stepped in to affirm our one
and only option - GET THEM MARRIED IN CHURCH! He
bolstered this option by announcing that only 2
paper requirements are needed: baptismal certificate
and attendance to a Pre-Cana seminar. Actually,
Padre Felipe confided later that he had been pursuing
unwed parishioners for years but could not find
a forum to put it together. At last, MPC became
an answered prayer to his elusive dream to get them
married and thus allow them to be in the state of
grace!
Almost immediately thereafter, we organized a Wedding
Team to pursue the Mass Wedding for 5 couples 
(the
application papers for the other 2 are still pending)
. Helen and I lost no time is harnessing the resources
of our CFC-FFL community in NJ. Getting their cooperation
became an easy task because of the full endorsement
of our Area Servant, Ed Yamba. The very first action
plan was a prayer initiative via the "angeslpraying4u"
prayer network. This was followed by a series of
meetings with top leaders of CFC-FFL NJ including
the Core Team of CFC-FFL in NJ.. Simultaneously,
the new MPC graduates at St. Paul led by Bernabe
& Rosa Calixto and Nydia Rodriguez, went on
with their weekly household sessions. Consequently,
we express our profound gratitude to the overwhelming
support of the entire the CFC FFL community in terms
of cash and food donations. Indeed the sharing of
resources was unexpected considering this period
of economic difficulty.
Accordingly, the Mass Wedding went on with all the
trimmings of a grand but solemn wedding. The brides
were so elegant in white while the grooms were dapper
in their dark suits. Incredibly, God's mighty hand
was evident in all aspects of the wedding. The bridal
march was unique for each bride with her own entourage
of flower girls and ring bearers, their own children
and grandchildren. And as they responded to their
individual "I DO's", a flurry of activities
were being put into action at the Wedding Reception,
a mile away. The Food Team led by Melvin & Rhoda
Mendoza, transformed a school social hall into a
"Wedding Ballroom, minus the chandeliers!"
The wedding celebrants were made to sit down in
a “presidential dais” with individual
white wedding cake for each couple. And the food
and Latin music…”super” is the
word for it!
By now, the 5 MPC couples are enjoying the long-awaited
blessings from God that overflowed to their children
and next generations. This Mass Wedding of 2010
is only the beginning. As we await more couples
to be tapped by God to undergo the SVC program of
MPC, we at CFC-FFL are ready for any unwed couple
that may come along, AS LONG AS WE REMAIN FAITHFUL
TO OUR COVENANT FOR FAMILY AND LIFE!
May God be praised forever! DIOS TE BENDIGA. Muchas
gracias.
Contributed
by:
Jun and Helen Banaria
MPC Coordinators, New Jersey