The Bishops' Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage and Religious Liberty, which formally began on the Feast of the Holy Family, is a nationwide directive during this Year of Faith to advance the movement for life, marriage and religious liberty through prayer, penance and sacrifice, Tejeda says. The CCI toolkit was released in November and is meant for Catholics in Illinois.
"The Bishops have said there is a 'need for spiritual stamina' and I find that beautiful," Tejeda says. He has been studying both documents and understands how important they are to the faithful in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.
The Bishops Call to Prayer has five components: monthly eucharistic holy hours in cathedrals and parishes; daily rosaries offered by families and individuals; special Prayers of the Faithful at all Masses; fasting and abstinence from meat on Fridays; and a Fortnight for Freedom in late June/early July. It was prompted by unprecedented challenges to the Catholic Church and the nation, particularly the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate and current trends in government and culture toward redefining marriage.
"It struck me that at the state level, CCI is reaching out and now through God's providence we've seen a national call to prayer from the Bishops," he says. "It is important that we (as Catholics) understand, articulate and embrace the truth of marriage so that our spiritual journeys will be greatly assisted and in fact made possible with prayer."
Tejeda says that he will, with the assistance of Deacon Patrick O'Toole, associate director in his office, be glad to help parishes equip their parishioners to discover the answers they need regarding their questions about the institution of marriage.
"The toolkit is a concentrated set of resources and is meant to be quite literally a tool box you can go to. We desire to go to parishes and brainstorm ideas about how to implement what is in the toolkit," he says. "Or if they already have ideas, then we'll help them implement them."
The institution of marriage is "becoming increasingly rare in our culture," Tejeda says. For example, in 1947 about 15 of every 1,000 Catholics in the United States were married in the Catholic Church. As of 2009, only 2.7 of every 1,000 Catholics in the U.S. were married in the church.
Contraception, same sex unions, divorce and living together without marriage are difficult issues, he says. Once Catholics understand and confidently articulate to others with words and actions the teachings of the church, they will be marriage evangelists.
The upcoming anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the recently re-elected current administration are reminders of how much Catholics need to work for both marriage and life, Tejeda points out. "We are in the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and we know that the Department of Justice is not going to defend DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act); clearly the Gospel is increasingly marginalized in our society.
"So, until sacramentally married couples understand marriage they can't help others who are without the sacrament understand what we believe. We need everybody, baptized Catholics in particular, to understand, articulate and embrace sacramental marriage," Tejeda says. "This isn't bigotry or hatred; it is part of the universal call to holiness."
For more information on the CCI Marriage Toolkit, go to www.ilcatholic.org/cci-issues-marriage-toolkit. The Bishops' Call to Prayer is highlighted at www.usccb.org/life-marriage-liberty. To contact Carlos Tejeda, email or call (217) 698-8500, ext. 132.