Damon Owens and…munus?

There are many much-anticipated things about CCL’s upcoming convention (not least: the fact that we’re having a conference at all after all these years!), and we’ve got more to add to the excitement.

Damon Owens, founder and Executive Director of JoyTOB.org will deliver a keynote speech about…munus!

Yeah…munus.

I wasn’t sure, either. Turns out, munus is a Latin term related to Roman gladiators, and it’s used by the Church more than 248 times throughout the documents of Vatican II to describe marriage.

We expect Damon to rally the crowd looking something like this:

In all seriousness, the Church chose to use “munus” — meaning duties done by Roman citizens (including gladiators) for the betterment of society — to describe the vocation and mission of marriage. Understanding the sacrament through this lens, matrimony recovers its oft-lost sense of God-given honor. It’s time to rediscover this crucial link of marriage to God’s entire plan of salvation.

Building off this ambitious keynote, Owens will spend his workshop exploring how the theology of the family can help us build communities of authentic love within our households. With a 24-year marriage and eight children, Owen’s personal testimony sets an excellent foundation to explore the messy business of teaching imperfect humans to love like our perfect Heavenly Father.

— Forest Hempen
Marketing and Communications Associate