Comunità di Caresto

THAT STRANGE COUPLE Joseph and Mary

Giuseppe e Maria

1st edition August 2022
Series LA FAMIGLIA NEL MONDO CONTEMPORANEO
Size 12 x 19 cm

Number of pages 128
CDU 19D 33
ISBN/EAN 9788892229228

Community of Caresto
THAT STRANGE COUPLE Joseph and Mary
 Much has been written, meditated on, and reasoned about the Holy Family of Nazareth, with attention to the life and actions of the characters that compose it, in particular to Mary’s and Joseph’s relationships with their son Jesus. But very little, almost nothing has been meditated and written about Joseph and Mary as spouses, as united in marriage, as a couple. This text starts from here: not an exegetical study, not a speculative theology, but so to speak, an existential approach, a discovery journey, asking Mary and Joseph for help in married life today. “Joseph and Mary were engaged in the full sense of the word, and God’s initiative clearly tested their relationship. Joseph and Mary did not become less in love when the will of God was expressed for them with respect to the custody of the son of God. In this story we find an experience that is also ours, sometimes a difficult path, strew with heavy obstacles. Their example and their ability to positively face all these trials stimulates us and gives us courage too”.

The COMMUNITY OF CARESTO is a center of family spirituality in the Marche, in the diocese of Urbino. For almost forty years it has been organizing every weekend spiritual retreats for married couples and engaged couples that reach the community from all over Italy.

Selling Points
• A very useful tool for pastoral activities dedicated to engaged and married couples.
• Well-known Community because of its activities dedicated to couples and teenagers.
• Not a simple reflection on the nature of Mary’s and Joseph’s marriage, but a text that also describes the historical-cultural context they have been living in.
• Representation of the spouses from Nazareth in art.
• Practical reflection sheets and operational questions to be used by couples.