Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, Vicar for Clergy of the Archdiocese of New York, is scheduled to celebrate Mass on Saturday, May 4 during the ninth annual “Congreso de Parejas: Unidos en el Amor” (Couples’ Congress: United in Love).   

The day-long gathering for Spanish speakers will be held at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. Sponsored by the New York archdiocesan Movimiento Matrimonial Catolico (Catholic Marriage Movement, MMC), the event will feature faith-based motivational speakers and the music of Ysaac Rodriguez and will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the Mass set for 10 a.m. Bishop Whalen will also serve as homilist.                

“The event will have important themes for the couples; one of the themes will be ‘How to transmit the faith to our children,’” Marcia Correatold The Good Newsroom. Correa leads the MMC with her husband, Maximo. She elaborated, “How to pass on the faith when they are little, when they are teenagers, and when they are young adults.”               

Correa said another theme will be on “The Graces of the Sacrament of Matrimony,” adding, “It is important to understand that having the sacrament of matrimony is a grace, it is a gift from God. And there will be a theme on ‘How to Rebuild Your Marriage,’ for it to be a better marriage than before. All these themes are very important for us as married couples and as parents.”    

Correa also said that next year the Catholic Marriage Movement will be organizing its 10th annual Couples’ Congress. “It is a great blessing.” She noted the event is open to couples, whether or not they were married through the Church, and to engaged couples. Her group facilitates Church-marriage preparation for civil marriage, unmarried, and engaged couples.   

“Our charism is to take couples to the sacrament,” she asserted, noting that most years her group guides 10 to 12 couples in marriage preparation. 

The event speakers will include Wilson Tamayo, missioner of Lazos De Amor Mariano, based in Colombia; Father Peter Mushi, A.J., pastor of St. Cecilia/Holy Agony Church in Manhattan; and Ylma Acevedo, a Catholic speaker based in Garfield, New Jersey.  

Jose and Dominga Rodriguez, whose family parish is St. Raymond in the Bronx, have attended five or six of the Couples’ Congress over the years. They were married through the Church 34 years ago; they are parents of four and grandparents of one. They plan to attend this year’s gathering. 

“We attend to increase our faith and to continue improving as spouses,” Jose Rodriguez said, noting that the guidance they’ve received has also helped them with their roles as parents. “This event is a blessing. The speakers always give good advice about how to improve marital relationships – and they (organizers) always schedule a Mass for the Congress…In the Church I have learned that problems arise, but the Lord gives us the solutions.” 

Cardinal Hayes High School is located at 650 Grand Concourse. For event registration or general information, click here or call (347) 862-0489.