Spanish-language group promotes family unity

By J.D. Long-García
The Catholic Sun

GOODYEAR — Standing before a group of 50 strangers at St. John Vianney Parish, Jesus Chavez speaks openly about the troubles he faced in his marriage, with his children and of the need to say “I love you.”

Chavez and wife Maria Elena first started Familias Unidas, a program that works to improve family communication, at Santa Teresita in El Mirage. After three years of implementing the Spanish-language program there, the couple is sharing it with another parish.

“I always like to share my experiences first so that people will know things will be held in confidence,” Chavez said. “I’ve had a lot of problems.”

Jesus and Maria learned the Familias Unidas system during a retreat at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale.

“When mom and dad are OK, then the children can start learning from them,” Chavez said. “When the parents change, it convinces the children of the value of going to Church.”

Fr. Gary Regula, pastor of Santa Terestia, has seen the positive effects of the program, including more participation at his Hispanic parish.

“It not only gets them working on the understanding of the family in their homes,” he said, “but it also makes them more alive in the family that is the parish community and the larger Church.”

Fr. Regula noted that husbands are usually more reluctant to join the program, but many do after hearing testimonies from other men.

“It has invited people to look at their marriage, not in a negative way, but to see it as a work in progress rather than as a problem,” he said. “It gives them tools to address these problems.”

One of these tools is communication and Jesus and Maria Elena remind couples about the little things.

“We want mom and dad to tell each other they love each other, to give each other compliments, to give each other flowers,” Jesus said. “Often times a husband will say ‘I love you’ to his wife, and shortly thereafter he will say ‘I’m sorry.’”

Familias Unidas communities often struggle with alcoholism and drugs and their children live under pressures to join gangs.

“Teenagers will often approach their parents for affection, but they don’t know how,” Jesus said. “We parents don’t take time to show our children about hugging, about expressing love.”

By creating an environment of positive communication during meetings, families learn how to better communicate at home, he said.

“Especially with all the things that are out there to tempt children and to destroy families, this is showing how to keep families together,” Fr. Regula said.

To learn more about Familias Unidas, contact Jesus Chavez at (623) 332-1171.