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Evolution and milestones of MPC
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Marriage Preparation in the 1960s
It may be hard to believe, but marriage preparation for Catholics in Singapore already existed way back in the 1960s. It consisted of either a 1-to-1 session with a priest or religious or a series of lectures that engaged couples had to undergo before they were married in Church.
1983 – Birth of the Marriage Preparation Course
The late Fr Edmund Dunne, C.SS.R. served for more than 2 decades as an Advocate of the Matrimonial Tribunal of the Catholic Church in Singapore.
Fr Dunne was at that time, amongst other things, also serving concurrently as the President of Family Life Society, working tirelessly to serve the needs of married couples and the family with an exceptional passion.
In 1983 under Fr Dunne, our Spiritual Director, no efforts were spared to enhance the Marriage Preparation Course for the benefit of engaged couples, revising the curriculum at least twice during this time.
2004 – Fr Anthony Hutjes is Spiritual Director
Fr. Anthony Hutjes SS.CC. is a member of the “Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament”. He was sent as a missionary to Singapore in 1973.
Fr. Anthony is a thinker, philosopher, and prolific writer who has authored numerous books. He had previously served and uplifted his parishioners as parish priest since 2006 in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. An ever-giving spirit, Fr Hutjes still continues to serve and reside as a priest in the same church today.
Under Fr Anthony’s stewardship, the course materials were improved with the introduction of a localized version of the Couple Paks used in the weekly MPC sessions. The Sexuality Sunday (5th week session) was also refocused into 3 parts to deal with the morality aspects related to contraception, abortion and Natural Family Planning. Pre- and post- course surveys were introduced to ascertain and ensure the relevance of the course to couples preparing for marriage in the Church with consequent sharpening of the skills of MPC presenters.
For more than 15 years, both the Engaged Couples (EC) and Presenting Couples (PC) at MPC have benefited from his wise counsel and spiritual guidance especially in their marriage and family life.
Sep 2019 – MPC Launches New & Enhanced Couple Workbook
The new and enhanced Engaged Couple Workbook was a labor of love that MPC took almost 2 years to complete.
The goal is to provide Engaged Couples with an immersive marriage preparation experience where all the course content is compiled into a single point of reference – the Workbook.
The course content is richly illustrated and updated with the latest societal trends impacting marriages today. The design encourages Engaged Couples to explore deeply the dynamics of their individuality and also that of their future spouse and relationship, all in a conducive and often fun environment.
Apr 2020 – MPC Rolls Out New Online Format in the midst of Covid-19
In the early months of 2020, Covid-19 wreaked havoc across many Church ministries serving the community, disrupting the delivery of many programs.
Many programs (including the MPC) could not be carried out in their then existing forms.
In the face of every adversity lies opportunity. By the grace of God, the volunteers in MPC rose to the challenge and worked tirelessly to create the new online version of the course. This enabled the apostolate to continue serving the Engaged Couples in their greatest time of need. And brought the MPC curriculum into a new phase of delivery.
MPC now has these equally effective modes of delivery which will be assigned to ECs).
- Face to Face format (subject to Phase 3-Safe Distancing Measures)
- Online format
- Hybrid Face to Face/Online format
Jun 2021 – Fr Luke Fong becomes Spiritual Director
Fr Luke Fong is an avid writer, speaker, and blogger who started the blog titled Reflections and Ruminations in Aug 2009. The blog already has total pageviews exceeding 1.2m and 580 posts and is still steadily growing, reaching out not only to Catholics in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (where he serves as assistant priest) but also all over Singapore and around the world.
Ordained in 2001, Fr Luke Fong served in the parishes of St Anne’s and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour before being posted to IHM in 2008.
In 2010, Fr Luke was transferred to Our Lady Star of the Sea parish and two years later, left for Washington to pursue a teaching degree in theology. It was here that he fell ill and returned to Singapore for treatment. After receiving a life-saving stem cell transplant for leukaemia in 2013, Fr Luke gradually regained strength and was offered a posting in IHM as assistant priest in February 2015. He endeavors to be sincere as a priest and give his best to encourage holiness.
Listen to Far Luke’s personal testimony on suffering and his illness here:
Besides writing, Fr Luke enjoys cooking and indulging in complicated origami. Before his illness, he paid special attention to fitness and used to swim regularly and run nearly 40km every week.
Father says “Though I’m not not able to run any longer after having an artificial hip, I continue to make slow strides together with our brothers and sisters towards our shared heavenly goal as God’s baptized beloved children.”
June 2022 Back to Personal Face-to-Face Format
From 3Q 2022, we are happy to announce that we will be back to our personal face-to-face format. Each Marriage Preparation run will be conducted over 6 weeks with each weekend session lasting 4-5 hours each.
We can once again experience the joy of forming close bonds and building support structures for couples preparing for their marriages and beyond.
“To be faithful in marriage is more than a series of DON’Ts and DOs. It means…To bring my spouse to his full potential.”
Kylee
MPC is an apostolate of the archdiocese of the Catholic Church of Singapore dedicated to preparing couples for marriage in the church. The apostolate is run by a community of Catholic couples who have been married for at least 5 years who are called to serve in the ministry. The spirituality of the community is based on a consecration of the apostolate to the sacred heart and immaculate heart, obedience to devotion to the church’s teachings on marriage and a strong love for good marriages and family life. The community gathers every Friday for prayers and community interaction to build up the spiritual life of the members and to pray for the work of the apostolate and especially for the engaged couples who attend the course.
Mission
To Prepare Couples To Live Their Sacrament Of Matrimony.
Spiritual Director:
Fr. Ambrose Vaz
Core Team:
Coordinator : Michael & Catherine Koh
Secretary : Christopher & Margaret Cher
Treasurer : Eugene & Trillion Ng
Registration Couple : Winston & Nina Khoo
Scheduling Couple : Martin & Monica Tay
Events & Logistics Couple : Jared & Kristen Tay
Sexuality Sunday Couple : Gabriel & Teresa Seow
1983
Lovingly Serving Couples Preparing for Marriage
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