Fall in North Texas may not be as beautiful as places like Virginia or the northeastern United States. But visitors from far away can still experience the "autumn" feeling through a few yellow leaves drying here and there in the gardens. Although Fall contains weariness and withering, it can also help revive once-vibrant love affairs. That is also the wish of couples and directors of Dong Hanh.

In the city of Dallas, over the weekend, November 6, 2009 - November 8, 2009, members of Dong Hanh's MVGD board organized the 8th Marriage Life Renewal course. It is known that this is a participation course. The largest participation (53 couples) was conducted for the first time in the Dallas-Ft. Worth and surrounding areas, with the special collaboration of GX Th. Peter. The total number of participants and organizers is more than 150 people, including Father Au Q. Thanh (Chaplain), Father Uong Q. Luong (Marriage Counselor), 2 nuns, 2 deacons, and the parish priest. Pham V. Chinh as well as Father Nguyen Thanh Liem, Head of LĐCGVNHN. Parish priest Chinh mobilized parishioners to help the organizers present a very thoughtful renovation with full facilities from food, drinks, to audio-visual systems, meeting rooms, and prayer places. It is truly a great contribution to a Vietnamese parish to have to sacrifice not cooking to raise funds every week to be able to serve the brothers and sisters attending the course.

When talking about the National Redemption Program, there are incorrect comments due to misunderstandings. The Resurrection Program is not an opportunity to listen to husband-wife couples "tell their sins" to each other, and it is even less an opportunity to "teach life" to the participants. The topics shared in the course are not filled with specialized words/doctrines about marriage, nor are they preached by priests or monks.

The word "celebrate" is probably the best compound word to describe the activities in a Red Blood Program course conducted by the Dong Hanh group. When praising, celebrating or praising something or a certain project, people review the process and then appreciate, reflect on the experiences and reset the future direction. Indeed, the activities in the Rebirth Program are designed and implemented with the purpose of helping participants look back at their married life through many different aspects, and thereby become more aware of areas that can be improved. leading to happiness and peace of mind. The aspects of marriage are experienced by couples who stand up and "break the bread of life" to share with the participants.

Their way of breaking the bread of life is a bit like how Jesus used to "tell stories" to bring the Gospel to the hearts of the people. Life story samples are divided into topics such as: suffering, discovering the self in "we", conversation, forgiveness, lovemaking, foundation, family and etc. Including topics sharing and group seminars, couples participate in prayer rituals, light candles for unity, and forgive each other just like Jesus erased the mark in the sand when he forgave the adulterous woman. There are couples who have whispered in each other's ears for a long time to share words of forgiveness and sympathy for the suffering that time has caused them to unintentionally cause each other. Some participants shared love letters filled with words of affection and heartache when they were not close to each other. The words of love that have been so bitterly made by life make them forget how to express them, and then the love of marriage silently withers. There was also a letter expressing the pain of being broken up, but through the Red River Youth Day, they reconsidered and wished to heal the wound and come back together for the rest of their journey. It's truly admirable, and also pitiful, because the course has allowed everyone to experience many of the sufferings in married life that can be avoided.

After quite heavy topics about the quality of marriage, on Saturday night, the organizers created an opportunity for couples to celebrate their wedding with a solemn celebration. Everyone dressed beautifully, took pictures of each couple individually and entered a very sumptuous party no less than a four-star restaurant. In a joyful atmosphere and temporarily putting aside worries about work/family and children, couples can relive moments when they first met each other like dates at restaurants.

All activities during the 2 and a half days of the course are tightly planned, continuous and, importantly, do not cause drowsiness. They utilize ways to help participants absorb and experience vividly. In the 10 topics, 5 prayer rituals and mass, more or less, the participants were somewhat touched. This impact is partly due to couples opening their hearts to the Holy Spirit's influence. The next part is the group of brothers and sisters who support us behind us with constant prayers.

Indeed, according to what the couples shared on the last day of the course, perhaps the article that made many people think the most about the suffering in family life was the topic "When Prosperity Is Like Trouble"; An easy to remember and very popular article is the topic "Dialogue in Marriage". The witty but practical lesson is "Love in Marriage". In short, the brothers and sisters who attended the 8th DSHN program left with bricks that can help them continue to build the foundation of their family. These stones are faith, love, forgiveness and sacrifice, dreams and humor. Of course, conversation bricks will be used more to help couples clear up misunderstandings. In the last article, the leader of the Organizing Committee advised couples to try to "become signs of God's love" at home. Family can only be a fulcrum when there is the presence of God, that is, the love and giving of each person.

Before attending, perhaps more than half of people thought that this course was just a seminar like the others. But after the session, everyone felt relieved [nothing is better than being forgiven], more peaceful and excited. Excited because they know that their married life is in God's plan. Therefore, their Catholic married life is unusual, and the grace of the sacrament of marriage is enough for them to overcome the obstacles in life. The important thing is not to get discouraged, but to always rely on God and connect with Him through the Eucharist and prayer life. Without God, everything will be lost.

This year's Fall in the Dallas area will be different from previous seasons. "The One who gives rain at the right time and right time" used the RDSHN course as "spring rain to water the dry land" so that they would continue to love and "become one flesh."