January 2026 Monthly Letter: A Message From The USA-SR RC

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We hope and pray that you and your team have a prosperous 2026!  In 2025, we focused on a theme of “hope” for ourselves, our spouses, our teams, and our Movement.  In 2026, we will focus on a theme of “faith” and how we can strengthen and expand that faith throughout the year.

With a new year comes resolutions, hopes, and plans.  We pray that you will have the steadfast faith to persevere and accomplish these resolutions, hopes, and plans in your lives.  Faith in God, faith in your team, and faith in your spouse will strengthen you for the journey.  We are excited to see what the Lord has planned for you and this Movement in 2026!

This past July, the ERI (International Leading Team) tasked us (really the entire Movement) to focus on formation and expansion for Teams of Our Lady.  Just as our faith must have proper formation in order to grow and expand, the same is true with the Teams of Our Lady Movement.  In the USA Super Region, we offer many formation options throughout each year.  However, there is always room for improvement.

Formation

In the USA, much formation is focused at the sector level as each base team is directly impacted by the formation in their respective sector.  The Sector Responsible Couple (with support from the Region Responsible Couple) leads this formation.  Typically, formation for incoming base team Responsible Couples is held annually with formation for Information Couples, Pilot Couples, and Liaison Couples as needed depending on growth.  Every two years, the USA Super Region hosts a 3-day Sector Couple Experience to form and train current and incoming Sector Responsible Couples throughout the country.  All of these formation opportunities are vital to keep the Movement moving forward in the same direction with a sense of unity and belonging.  The Sector RC’s role is vital to keep your base team connected to the larger Movement.  We encourage you to do all you can to help and assist them in their role.

This past fall, the USA-SR also hosted virtual formation sessions to assist the Sector and Region RCs.  The sessions offered were training for Responsible Couples, Information Couples, Pilot Couples, and Liaison Couples.  All of these sessions were recorded and are available through the Member Portal on the website.  Once you log in to the portal, you have access to these videos to view as a refresher or to be used in conjunction with formation being offered by your Sector and/or Region RC.  Please check them out as well as other formation opportunities we endeavor to add to the portal in 2026!

Other formation opportunities include Sector Days, Regional Days, New Teams Welcome Celebrations, Regional Colleges, and Province Colleges.  If you have the opportunity to attend any one or multiple of these events in your area, please attend.  All of these events are for formation, collegiality, and connecting us to the larger Teams Movement.

Expansion

The ERI wants to grow the Movement in 2026.  We absolutely support this initiative as we receive inquiries almost every week from couples interested in joining Teams.  We can all be ambassadors in this expansion initiative.  Think of it this way…if you were given a light on a dark path, would you hide that light under a basket or let it shine bright to lead the way?  We all can shine the light of Teams bright for all the world to see.  Marriages across the world need to see our light leading the way to conjugal spirituality.  The light of the sacrament of marriage will guide us down a path of holiness with our spouse and Jesus at our sides.  Be the light, be an ambassador, and speak about your experiences in Teams of Our Lady with other married couples.  Teams should not be a “well kept secret” but a bright light of faith, hope, and love!

If you encounter someone interested in joining a team, thank them for their interest, refer them to your Sector RC, and follow-up and encourage them during this process.  Yes, there is a process that is important to follow to bring new couples into Teams.  All married couples need to make an informed decision about their involvement in Teams.  They need time and information in order to properly discern and commit to the pedagogy of Teams of Our Lady.  Over the next few months, we will use this monthly letter to walk you through the team formation process outlined in the graphic below.  Consider this formation our gift to you in the new year!

Information Meeting

It is critical that every interested couple attend an Information Meeting led by a well-formed (trained) Information Couple.  An Information Couple can present a prescribed outline of the information in a number of ways.  Personally, we prefer a PowerPoint to allow the interested couples to both see and hear the information.  Some Information Couples just prefer to speak from an outline.  Others have even mocked up a Teams meal around a table as a teaching tool.  If you and your spouse feel the call to be trained as an Information Couple, please contact your Sector RC.  We are sure they would be happy to provide you the resources and formation you need to assist in this vital role in the team formation process.

An information meeting can be held at your local parish, in the home of the Information Couple, in the home of an interested couple, or even at a local coffee shop or restaurant.  The most important thing to remember is that BOTH the interested husband and interested wife need to attend an information meeting.  They don’t necessarily have to attend the same meeting; however, that is advisable.

So, remember that the process starts with an Information Meeting.  A couple should not be added to a new team without experiencing an Information Meeting.  Next month, we will discuss the Piloting process and how to pilot couples into a new team or an existing team.

ERI (International Leading Team) News

As we discerned the content to include in this very letter, we received two wonderful letters from the ERI.  The first is from Fr. Augusto Garcia, Spiritual Counselor for the ERI. His letter entitled “The Spiritual Counsellors and Advisors of Teams in the Teachings of the Popes” is a continued reflection begun in September on the presence, role, and importance of the Spiritual Counselors and Advisors in Teams. 

The second is from Edith and Jerome Ekoue Kovi, Liaison Couple for the Eurafrica Zone.  Their letter is entitled “What if Marriage Were a Spiritual Adventure Capable of Transforming a Life?” which focuses on the charism and endeavors we have in Teams.  Both of these articles resonated well with us as they touch profoundly on the importance of a solid formation in Teams and encouraged us to let the light of our marriage and our involvement in Teams shine bright for others to see.  We hope you will take the time to read and reflect on these two letters.

Holy Hour for Marriage

Speaking of allowing the light of marriage to shine brightly, we would like to present an opportunity to all of you on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at 6:30pm central time.  From January 15-19, the USA Super Region Team (8 couples and 1 spiritual counselor) will be gathered in Houston, TX for our bi- annual meeting to review and discuss the “business” of the Movement in the USA.  We are concluding our meeting on Sunday with a holy adoration hour for marriage.  We are physically inviting all Teams couples in the East Texas Region as well as any other married couple, single person, widow/widower, to come and devote an hour of prayer in front of the blessed sacrament.  We encourage you to gather as a couple, as a team, or even as a Sector during this time and pray for marriages.  We would like all USA couples in Teams united in prayer for marriages during this time.  We would love to see pictures and hear testimonies of how God spoke to those in attendance and how their witness affected others.  Go and be a light!

January 2026 Prayer Service

Please find the January Prayer Service prepared by Fr. Eli Lopez, USA-SR Spiritual Counselor, reflecting on the fifth chapter of the new 2025-2025 Study Topic, “Love is Much More Than Love”. 

We wish you a very Happy New Year!  Our Lady, Queen of Teams, pray for us!

Peace, Greg & Melanie