This call could only be answered with the support of the many that collec-‐tively rose to the occasion to make it possible. From the prayers to the fi-‐nances to the promotion of the Great

to all those couples and individuals that stepped forward to heroically forge through the obstacles to arrange talks and workshops for the faithful.

The Great Marriage tour was made pos-‐sible by the generosity of 6 donors who believed that taking the Good News of marriage to the streets was a worth-‐while mission, and it had 3 phases this year, taking us from Florida to Wiscon-‐sin.

In August we went to Jacksonville,

ference and after that visited our good friend Fr. James Dean in Foley Ala-‐bama, coming back home through Houston. It was a good trial run in preparation for the long trips ahead.

The Great Marriage Challenge is our way of giving thanks to God and sharing His gift of mercy with as many souls as possible. We wish to cooperate with God "to re-‐establish

This is our mission and our promise to God for what He has done for us!

This year has been one of tremen-‐dous success but it has not come without challenges. We realize it is crucial to look back and see the struggles we have overcome in order to recognize the grace and mercy of God that has carried us through the trials and to see His loving hand in all things.

Although most of us realize that marriage is the building block of our society and that a lifelong marriage between a man and a woman is good for the couple, their children and society we also know that many of the problems that we are facing are due to the breakup of marriage.

So, what would you do if you knew there was a solution to the devasta-‐tion, destruction and pain that di-‐vorce brings to all affected by it?

world about it, wishing you had the resources to reach all those who need to hear the message of hope that marriage is beautiful because that is the way God planned it?

Since his election as Pope in March, Francis has urged the faithful to reach out to others by taking the

ing World Youth Day he said "I would like us to make noise, I would like those inside the dioceses to go out into the open; I want the Church to be in the streets; I want us to defend ourselves against all that is worldli-‐ness, comfort, being closed and

We are willing to do just that, by embarking on the Great Marriage Challenge tour with our 5 youngest children we will be visiting parishes in different parts of the country to challenge all the couples we encoun-‐ter to live marriage as God intended and to be a light to a world that is living in darkness.

Regardless of the many attacks being waged on marriage today, we believe that our goal should be to support all couples in having holy and joy-‐filled relationships. We know from our own struggles and those of the many cou-‐ples that approach us for help that it is only through a change of hearts brought about by personal evangeli-‐zation that our society can begin to change and be reshaped; bringing the Good News to as many couples as possible is the goal of the Great Mar-‐riage Challenge tour.

Love  ConnectionsLove  Connections    From  our  House  to  your  Home  

The trip in September got off to a rocky start as we were hit head on by a distracted driver on the way to our first stop in Wichita, KS, but through the generosity of good friends we were able to get a 15 passenger van to travel in an not have to cancel the rest of the tour, as we wanted to visit the 14 parishes that were expecting us. This leg of the trip took us from Kansas to Iowa across Nebraska to Colorado and finally to Arizona, New Mexico and El Paso.

A good friend of ours learned of the accident through Facebook and offered to lend us his RV for the third leg of the trip, as travel-‐ing in a 15 passenger van with 5 children 12 and under can be chal-‐lenging for the best of parents!

After stopping back home in San Anto-‐nio for a 5 day breather we packed our winter clothes and headed to-‐wards our own back yard to Dallas, from there to Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vir-‐ginia, Maryland and Kentucky.

Do not worry about what to take or "how to pack" go and God will provide through the generosity of others. Un-‐sure how we would afford the gas from one place to the next we jour-‐neyed on with one thing on our hearts. Giving hope to couples and teaching them how to love -‐ sharing the "gift."

Finally making it home just in time for the Benefit Dinner after visiting more than 30 parishes and talking to more

can truly say that people are hungry to hear the truth, marriages are strug-‐gling and hurting and being able to

has been a blessing.

In thanksgiving to each and every one of you -‐ especially to our spiritual fa-‐thers that attended these events -‐ you priests encouraged not only us but allowed your flock to experience how much you care.

Know that we feel humbled by the experience and that we are thankful beyond words for the generosity of everybody that has been a part of this

again take it to the streets -‐ West Coast here we come!

2

What else is going on? CELEBRATING MARRIAGE: THE DIVINE TRUTH

This year our Annual Benefit Dinner centered on why

ference; Teresa Tomeo and her husband Deacon Dominick shared their testimony with all our guests and invited them to work actively in making God the center of their relationships.

We asked Teresa to be here because besides being such an amazing evangelist and on fire for the Faith, we have a very good relationship with her and had invited her to be here in April for

our Girls Night Out but she had an event at the Vatican

mirrors so many of the stories we encounter in our work with couples. She has also graciously accepted to be on our advisory board and has been instrumental in promoting The Great Marriage challenge. She definitely grasps the im-portance of providing opportunities for evangelization for every marriage. The event was beautiful thanks to our amazing group of volunteers and we know much fruit will come from it. We thank all who were there, especially those who be-

love and donated generously to our apostolate.

We have partnered with Gerard and Anna Migeon, the founders of Natural Womanhood (NW) in promoting their apostolate. ne

NFP method over the other, but encourages couples to learn it from NFP training organizations. Their vision is that all women learn about their body and how to respect it, and that marriages and families become stronger as a result. Natural Womanhood is a grassroots movement. With the help of advocates throughout the US, they hope to appeal to young people and couples who want a more natural lifestyle and more fulfilled marriage relationship. They will be talking about new ways and ideas to talk to couples about NFP. You can read more about this campaign at www.naturalwomanhood.org

Because  we  want  to  be  good  stewards  of  all  the  generous  gifts  we  receive,  we  have   moved   our   headquarters   to   a  new   location.   Of   course   we   miss   our  GRN   friends   from   across   the   hall   but  our  new  office  is  a  better  financial  de-­‐cision.  

2013   has   been   a   banner   year   in   so  many  ways  for  TAHA.    We  are  excited   to  say   that   in   the  past  three  months  we  have  15  new  COVE-­‐NANT  OF  LOVE  parishes,  bringing  the  total   to   75   parishes,   welcome   to   our  family.   We   have   been   contacted   by  folks   from   Alaska   to   Hawaii,   and  across   the  ocean   from  South  Africa   to  Australia.    

We   attribute   the   increase   in   these  partnerships   to   the   exposure   brought  about   by   the   Great   Marriage   Chal-­‐lenge.   Needless   to   say  we   are   in   dire  need   of   having   somebody   with   both  the   knowledge   and   the   heart   to   de-­‐velop   and   sustain   the   relationships  with   all   our  partners   so  we  are  pray-­‐ing   and   discerning   about   bringing   a  full   time   Director   of   COL   Marriage  Ministry  on  board.  We  are  also  looking  to  create  new  re-­‐sources,  as  well  as  producing  new  cur-­‐riculum   for   our   existing   groups.   We  now  have  enough  material  for  5  years  of  Date  Nights  and  our  new  series  will  talk   about   VIRTUES   IN   MARRIAGE  with  Fr.  Wade  Menezes.  Knowing  that   increasing  awareness   is  key   for   the   growth   of   TAHA   we   are  partnering  with  a  videographer  to  aid  

is  with  the  creation  of  new  resources  and  outreach.  Because   of   the   addition   of   2   Marriage  Disciples   there   has   been   280   sessions  conducted   for   couples   who   are   seeking  help   and  healing   for   their  marriage.    We  are   also   actively   trying   to   find   the   best  way  to  train  more  than  10  couples  to  be-­‐come  new  Marriage  Disciples;  there  is  not  a  day  that  goes  by  without  us  receiving  a  phone  call  or  email   from  a  couple   that   is  in   need   of   assistance   in   overcoming   an  obstacle   in   their   relationship   and   we  would   not   be   fulfilling   our   call   if   we   do  not  offer  them  all  the  resources  and  hope  we  possibly  can.  Many  thanks  to  all  of  our  existing  partners  who  help  to  make  all  of  this  a  reality.    

Furthermore, because our kids see our strong marriage aided by programs like Covenant of Love, they feel more secure and learn techniques to apply in their future relationships. Society tries to convince us that everyone will

Yet the only thing a vil-­lage is historically famous for pro-­

Good citizens typically come from families with strong marriages. It does not take a village it takes a man and a woman completely committed to each other, demonstrated by self-­sacrificial love. The Alexander House works to make marriages healthy and healthy marriages are the best thing for children, men, and women. Statistics and studies show everyone lives longer, is

We support the Alexander House because Julie and Greg, instead of just complaining about the decline of our society, actively work to save our society from itself. They figured out, through their own experience and through talking with other cou-­ples, that healthy marriages are the cornerstone of healthy socie-­ties and all the sciences from anthropology to psychology back them up. Despite the over-­whelming evidence, our culture mocks marriage and tries to con-­vince us that any union between anybody is the same as a Sacra-­mental marriage between one man and one woman. The Alex-­ander House programs educate couples on what marriage should be and how to live out spousal commitment in the real world.

happier, and is more beneficial to society when they are in a strong, traditional marriage environ-­ment. We know in our hearts that mar-­riage between one man and one woman is the best institution for human civilization. The Alex-­anders help to cut through the noise to remind us of the truth in our hearts.    

s u p p o r t t h e A l e x a n d e r

support the Alex-­

Ron and

Kelly Comeau

OUR APOSTOLATE IS GROWING...

we need your support.

3 THE TRUE MEANING OF STEWARSDSHIP: PARTNERS FOR MARRIAGE RON AND KELLY COMEAU

MADE FOR EACH OTHER Join Greg and Julie every Wednesday from 11 to 12 CT on the Guadalupe Radio Network as they discuss:

Love, Relationships and

Marriage

We would love to have you as our guest so give us a call:

(877) 211-‐3853 or send your questions/comments/

suggestions to:

radioshow@thealexanderhouse.org

ADVENT 2013

What can you do to make your marriage become more centered on Christ ?

The  Alexander  House  Apostolate  

P.O.  Box  592107  

San  Antonio,  TX  78259  

Love Connections is the official newsletter of THE ALEXANDER HOUSE APOSTOLATE (TAHA) a 501(c)(3) organization

Printing provided by Smith Print of San Antonio (www.smithprint.net)

1. Find positive things to be grateful for and say it. 2. 3. Pray together daily. 4. Make small acts of sacrifice for the other. 5. Give your spouse the best part of YOU!

"With  the  tools  Date  Night  has  provided  we  are  closer  and  happier  together  today  then  on  the  day  we  

Toledo  IA  

WHAT COUPLES ARE SAYING ABOUT THEIR DATE NIGHTS...

If you are in San Antonio, or are planning a trip here we would like you to join us at our next COVENANT OF LOVE event: THE TRUTH FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY with FR. LARRY RICHARDS. Saturday, February 8, 2014.

For more information go to our website or to register go to: www.fatherlarry.eventbrite.com