Posted February 26, 2009

By Nadia Maria Smith
CS&T Staff Writer

BROOMALL – Ascension Press has teamed up with St. Pius X Parish to pilot a new marriage enrichment program. The two-day program will be held the weekend of March 13-14 at St. Pius X. Renowned author and speaker Christopher West will talk about the late Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body within the context of marriage.

West will be joined by Bob Schuchts, a marriage and family therapist and co-founder of the Theology of the body Healing Center, as well as Father Mark Toups, adjunct faculty member at the Institute for Priestly Formation at Notre Dame Seminary in southern Louisiana.

“It is an opportunity for married couples – either newlyweds or married over 40 years – to take their marriage to a whole new level in terms of communication, intimacy and prayer,” said Steve Motyl, the director of the Theology of the Body (TOB) spanision of Ascension Press. “This specific program … zooms in and turns the heat up on the marital relationship and explains not only who we are called to be as male and female but who we are called to be as male and female within marriage.”

West will give the theology lessons while the other presenters focus on practical applications of the lessons, Motyl explained.

The goal of the program is to help married folks gain a renewed understanding of the meaning and purpose of their marriage; grow deeper in love with Christ and each other; discover who and what they are really meant to be for each other as husband and wife; and learn the tools to safeguard their marriage and family against their greatest enemies, he said.

“It doesn’t get much better than this with presenters who know God’s plan for married love and talk about it in the most loving and compassionate way,” said Christine Rizzo, a parishioner of St. Pius X who also serves as the event manager for the Theology of the Body Institute. She helped bring the program to her parish. “It’s a message that is timeless. It’s unique, refreshing and hopeful.”

For more information or to register visit www.regonline.com/marriage or call 610-873-2017. Babysitting services will be available for children 11 years and younger on Saturday.

CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith may be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.