Regional Couple Letter – 1st Jan 2026

01 Jan Regional Couple Letter – 1st Jan 2026

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the
Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.                                                  Numbers 6:24-26

Dear Friends in Teams,

We would like to take the opportunity of wishing you all every blessing from the Lord for the new calendar year which has just begun – a year in which we should all endeavour to come closer to Jesus; to progress along the path to holiness, which Fr Caffarel said was the “essential objective” of the Movement.

In our last 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, and specifically some questions which Pope Francis posed near the start of that document. The first of these questions “Who are we, really?” has provided us with the focus for this reflection. 

The question of who we are can be answered on several different levels, but the addition of the word “really” – “Who are we, really?” – forces us to look deeper, forces us to look into our hearts in an attempt to answer who we are, really.

Children of the Father, co-heirs with the Son and temples of the Holy Spirit are all descriptions of our common identity – who we are individually as members of Christ’s Church.

So, who are we as couples? Being sacramentally married gives a deeper expression of our identity – especially our identity as couples – imaging the life and love of the Trinity with our spouses and to others.

So, as Teams, who are we really? What is our identity as Teams?

As we, Anne and Mark, reflect on the question of who we are, as Teams, we think of the many couples in the Movement here in Ireland, and elsewhere, who have inspired us in different ways. We think of how welcoming couples have been towards others, both within Ireland and from abroad. We think of couples’ generosity in saying “yes” to service within the Movement, for the sake of others – a generosity which is not just confined to the past, but which continues, especially through prayer. We think of how we “caught” the charism of Teams from all those couples.

These couples have recognised that the gift of Teams is not just for themselves and their families and local Team, but is for others and especially for other couples whom they meet, for their parishes and for other groupings to which they belong.

As we start this new calendar year, we invite you as couples, as widows or widowers, and spiritual counsellors / advisers to reflect on who you are as couples, widows, widowers, spiritual counsellors / advisers in Teams and who the Lord Jesus may be calling you to be, especially for others.

Finally, we would like to wish Rosemarie and Brendan Gavin every blessing as they begin their term of service as Responsible Couple for the Trans-Atlantic Super-Region.  We would also like to wish Fr Richard Sheehy every blessing as he assumes the role today of Spiritual Counsellor to the Trans-Atlantic Super-Region. We omitted to mention in our previous letter that he stepped down as Spiritual Counsellor to the Ireland Region at the Responsible Couples’ Day last October, after four years of wonderful service to the Regional Team.

Anne and Mark O’Leary
Responsible Couple – Ireland Region
Equipes Notre-Dame

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