"Family, Become What You Are" - Saint John Paul II
ABOUT MHSF
Who We Are
Chance and Lora Unger, Co-Founders of MHSF
Hello! We are Chance and Lora Unger, the founders of Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in the Family, along with our dear friend and spiritual guide Fr. Ben Holdren. MHSF is a Catholic apostolate dedicated to igniting holy marriages and reclaiming a new normal for families that will enact real and lasting change in the world.
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The mission of the MHSF is to answer the call of St. John Paul the Great when he says, “Family, Become who you are.” It is our vision to build up a culture of marriages that are solidified by holy formation, an intentional community, and deep encounter with God, who is perfect familial communion. We are an apostolate devoted to the sanctification of ordinary life in the family, strengthened by the sacrament of marriage.
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MHSF was born in a moment of surrender after losing our baby, Francis, to miscarriage. The longing in our hearts for heaven was unbearable, and the Holy Spirit poured an unexplainable love over us. “To be saints” became the only mission worth living, and we were moved to ask others to join us. The personal invitations to sanctity ignited a new fire in the hearts of us all. We were filled with passion for living in surrender to the Lord as He brought us miracles of healing, peace, charisms, and undeniable gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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To find more about who we are and what we're about, check out the links below.
This video provides our testimony and describes the foundation of our apostolate.
About the Logo
MHSF is founded upon the reality of Christ’s promise in the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit (in the form of a dove) comes as the Helper, bringing true life and love to the Sacrament of Marriage. He is our main focus, and our aim. The Holy Spirit acts within the domestic church (the greenhouse) causing growth of love between husband and wife and their entire family. The Holy Spirit enables families to “become what you are,” as St. John Paul II taught, and restores the primordial covenant of marriage.
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The greenhouse has a twofold meaning. The first is of the domestic church, the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith and the fundamental community or "cell" of the parish, the diocese, and the universal Church. The Latin word seminary means greenhouse. MHSF is a seminary of sorts for those who desire to fully live out the beauty of the Sacrament of Marriage.
A greenhouse provides a place of protection, proper nourishment, nurturing and light. The seedling can grow deep roots in order to become what it truly is. As it becomes strong, it can be transplanted outside where it will then be able to withstand the storms of life.
The vines within the greenhouse symbolize God’s original plan for man and woman in the garden of Eden, as the two are at the service of unity, becoming one flesh in the mutual exchange of love, and at the service of life as they are fruitful and multiply. It also symbolizes the growth that occurs in the "seminary" of MHSF. The vines intertwine producing an almond shape, which in sacred iconography is known as the mandorla. It symbolizes the marriage of divinity and humanity which happened in the person of Jesus Christ at His Incarnation. The Sacrament of Marriage represents this in the indissoluble communion of the two persons who have entered a covenant of their whole lives.
"When we first got married, we were seeking a community of other couples whose marriage was centered on Christ as well as praying about what God wanted our domestic church to look like. God answered our prayer through MHSF. We loved reading through Familiaris Consortio with Father Holdren and the other couples in our group. We have been grateful to witness so many marriages and families within MHSF live out what the church teaches about marriage and family life and to journey together as we raise our families alongside each other."
- Craig & Megan Pytleski, St. Francis Chapter
