Our Wedding Details: Catholic Engaged Encounter Experience

Last weekend, Pam and I attended the Catholic Engaged Encounter here in Singapore, it is a 2 full days stay-in program that starts from Friday night and ends with a Mass on Sunday afternoon. It was held in the Marriage Encounter house in Punggol. I didn't know exactly what to expect for the weekend but I thought that since its stay in, I will be able to rest and recover from a tiring week. Oh boy am I wrong.. It's a tough tough program, that is mentally and emotionally exhausting but will definitely benefit you, your partner and your relationship. 

Before we checked in Friday afternoon, Pam and I had an argument and we are not talking inside the cab on the way to the ME house, even when we got to the ME house we are still not talking. It’s a bit awkward as we saw other couples smiling and being sweet to each other and here we are not talking. 

When we got to the class room to start the first session, Fr. Ambrose Vaz explained to us how our weekend will go. We then had a quick introduction of ourselves and our partners. There were about 30 couples participating for the weekend, multi-cultural and almost half are interfaith couples  or couples with different religions. We were discourage to mingle with the other couples during the discussion and were advised to focus on our partners instead. We also have two senior couples guest speaker who shared their experiences. One couple have been married for 30 years and the other couple for 10 years. Their sharing is very much appreciated as they are living proof that marriage works. Its not easy all the time but it works.

Friday night  is exhausting as we finished almost midnight.  The good thing is that during the discussion, Pam and I were able to write down and discuss about our arguments and how we feel about it. We learned that our fight is normal and is part of what we called disillusionment stage, the good thing is that after the dissilussionment stage comes reconciliation which brings us to the next stage called true joy.

Saturday and Sunday went just like Friday night, there were different subjects that were tackled that we don’t usually discuss with our partners on our daily routine, that when we suddenly got into that difficult situation, we are unprepared and will not know how to tackle it, which then will lead to fight. But if you have discussed these things beforehand, you both know what to expect and will be ready for it.

I will not share the details of the other subjects that were discussed as we are discourage from sharing it. This is  for the benefit of the other couples who will be attending the CEE. But I will share you this, The most important thing that we took home this weekend is that realizing that we are the sign of God's love to each other and God should be the center of our relationship.

I highly recommend this to other couples even before they start on their wedding plans. You thought you know your partner? Think again.. :) We spend so much time planning and preparing for our wedding which will be over in a day, why not spend a weekend preparing for your marriage that will last a lifetime..?

How to reach them:
Catholic Engaged Encounter Singapore
www.catholic.org.sg/ceespore
email: ceespore@catholic.org.sg

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