The Worldwide Marriage Encounter World Council Meeting is held annually. The following six Secretariat Ecclesial Teams make up the World Council: Pan Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Pacific and North America. The International Ecclesial Team, a Secretary Couple, and an Interpreter Couple completed this year's World Council Team. The meeting is held in the various Secretariat locations and this year, Latin America hosted the meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It was our (Jose and Marilyn Garcia and Fr. Mitch Walters) privilege as the North American Secretariat Ecclesial Team to represent North America (United States and Canada and their associated countries and territories).

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Warning: There's a cruel epidemic afflicting our families, our marriages, and our friendships. It's called The Relationship Drift. It's a very devious disease. It's like some cancers. You really don't know you have it until it's fatal. And then it's too late. And then Relationship Drift becomes Relationship Dead.

The only solution is to diagnose it early. But the symptoms of Relationship Drift are almost invisible to the naked eye. Because you're not really fighting each other. There are no screaming matches. In fact, your home is quiet. And there are no pots and pans flying in the air. But little by little, your hearts move apart. Intimacy is gone. Joy is missing. In marriage, sex only happens every time Haley's comet passes planet earth. You take each other for granted. One day, you know the disease had run its full course because you wake up one morning not caring for the other person anymore.

Let me give you examples of the Relationship Drift: The father who doesn't have heart-to-heart conversations with his kids anymore. Or the wife who doesn't enjoy her husband's company anymore. Or a couple who talk to each other functionally, not deeply. Here's why: We live in a busy world; where bills need to be paid; cars need to be repaired and kids need to be fed and nurtured. My point? It's natural that you drift apart. You don't have to be a bad person. You don't have to be obnoxious, selfish, or evil to cause the disease called Relationship Drift. Let me give you an analogy. - Two people in a relationship are like two little boats floating on the sea. The problem is there's a current that will slowly pull the two boats apart. Before they know it, the two boats are miles away from each other.

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