13 Sep Letter from Regional Couple – September 2026
‘But you…who do you say that I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ [Matt. 16: 15-16]
Dear Friends in Teams,
Welcome to the new Teams’ year – 2026/2027! We hope that you all had a good summer and are feeling refreshed as we re-dedicate ourselves to Teams for the months ahead.
In our October 2025 letter, our first as Responsible Couple for the Region, we referenced the papal document, Dilexit nos – On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus, highlighting some questions posed near the start of that document.
In our second letter, earlier this year, we looked at the first of these questions “Who are we, really?”With this question, we considered who we are as sacramentally married couples, widows / widowers, or spiritual counsellors / advisers and as Teams.
In this letter, as we launch out into a new Teams’ year, we reflect on the second question: “What / Who are we looking for?” We all probably have our own particular way of answering this question – as individuals and as couples. However, inevitably, the question of what / who we are looking for brings us to an even more fundamental question: “Who do you say that I am?”
If we believe, like St Peter, that “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” then, surely, everything changes. That must sharpen our focus – helping us to see more clearly and to answer another related question: What are we about? And what we are about must include time spent in personal prayer – inviting Jesus, daily, to make His home in our hearts.
What we are about must also include time for couple prayer – and, of course, we are encouraged and expected to do this as members of Teams. Dedicated time in couple prayer will lead Jesus to let you see gradually in your spouse the person He sees – which will colour everything and allow you to be the couple which the Lord wants you to be.
Our founder, the Venerable Henri Caffarel, believed “…there is no greater service to be rendered to married people than to invite them to pray and to help them to pray” [1973].
The essence of what we should be about, as Teams, is having other like-minded couples to support us and challenge us in our faith, as we journey along the narrow and winding road to holiness [cf. Matt. 7 :13-14] – couples whom we, in turn, support and challenge on “the way” [John 14:6]. So, our monthly Teams meeting is not seen as a social gathering, but instead as a small Christian community gathered to support, learn from and challenge each other to grow in holiness, together with a spiritual counsellor / adviser whose role includes guiding us and challenging us to live our marriage sacrament in a fuller and deeper way.
Finally, in advance of the Responsible Couples [RC] / Formation Day on 24th October in Avila, the theme of which will be “The History of Salvation”, we wanted to highlight again the ERI Study Topic for 2026/27, “The History of Salvation” – which reflects on the family throughout Sacred Scripture. We encourage each Team in the Region to consider adopting this wonderful reflection as your study topic for the coming year, and for Responsible Couples to please confirm to us how many copies you will need. They will be available at the RC Day. In the meantime, it is also available on the website: teamsofourlady.ie
God bless,
Anne & Mark
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