Marriage Is Holy
- By Anne Van Tilburg
- Published 10/4/2009
- Catechism
- Unrated
Couples often think holiness is found in places other than marriage. They live in ignorance of the tremendous spiritual force that is their marriage. Engaged couples are sometimes instructed about the spiritual side of marriage and, once married, have ready access to psychological and economic advice. Yet, married couples seldom receive any assistance to grow spiritually as a couple. They must fend for themselves. Some nourish their spirit with individualistic pieties and remain unaware of the spiritual aspect of their life together as husband and wife.
Spirituality is a response to the revelation of God's love. It consists of knowing and serving God and our fellow men and women in love. Marriage is a privileged way of engaging in spirituality. Marriage is not just a human enterprise. It is part of God's eternal plan. Husbands and wives in their love for one another participate in God's love for humanity and in God's creative powers. They are persons created in the image and likeness of God. They are created by love, in love and for love.
In practice, spirituality is how one lives one's daily life. For most people, this means living day by day with one's spouse. Marriage is where spiritual life is practiced or not. It is a couple's primary and proper path to holiness. The Second Vatican Council taught, "Married couples and couples and Christian parents should follow their own proper path to holiness by faithful love, sustaining one another throughout the entire length of their lives."
(Lumen Gentium 41)
Marriage is not just a union. It is a vocation; a 'call' from God to a husband and a wife. The 'call' asks for a response. This response touches almost every aspect of their lives. First and foremost, marriage is a sacrament. A sacrament is a sign that points to God. The union between a husband and wife is one such sign. Their union is a reflection of the intimate life of the Trinity. Their fidelity to one another in the midst of life's variation, failures, achievements, joys, and sorrows is a sign of God's unyielding fidelity and love.
Potentially, marriage is the most complete human relationship. There are no limits to love. However, in reality, love grows in and through facing together day to day issues; work, in-laws, family meals, sex, paying bills, parenting. These every day matters are where couples mostly exercise love and faith and find God. Marriage always begins as romance, but very soon settles into the ordinary. Differences emerge. Conflicting attitudes try one another's patience. Love is challenged. Couples have to learn how to work through these difficulties as they remain faithful and loving. Fidelity is much more than not committing adultery. It requires couples to remain open to one another amids the chances and changes of life. Persevering fidelity is a way to become holy.
Forgiveness and acceptance is another couple's path to holiness. No married relationship can prosper unless the spouses practice forgiveness and accepting the imperfections of one another. Being civil to one another is an act of virtue, especially when you are feeling stressed and irritable. Holiness is achieved by not giving in to grouchiness. Self-surrender, whole it is a spiritual ideal, is expressed in marriage through one's body. Body expresses the person in a physical way. Our bodies are created in the image and likeness of God. They are made for love. Only humans have a body that is informed by an immortal and rational soul. Our bodies are us. When a husband and a wife give themselves to one another they give of their very person. This is a gift of love expressed through their bodies.
No spirituality, including married spirituality, is sustained without prayer. Constant prayer and frequenting the sacraments are a couple's primary means of keeping a vision of faith alive in a marriage. Husbands and wives participate in their marriage in acts of creation. Prayer motivates couples to make life choices that correspond to the Gospel. Prayer brings grace and strength to exercise those choices. In particular, the Eucharist keeps the memory of Jesus alive. It encourages couples to live Christ's self-sacrificing love for others in their own marriage. By attending to prayer and the sacraments, couples can be assured that they are on a path that leads to God.
Source: Fr. M. Gilbert.
Spirituality is a response to the revelation of God's love. It consists of knowing and serving God and our fellow men and women in love. Marriage is a privileged way of engaging in spirituality. Marriage is not just a human enterprise. It is part of God's eternal plan. Husbands and wives in their love for one another participate in God's love for humanity and in God's creative powers. They are persons created in the image and likeness of God. They are created by love, in love and for love.
In practice, spirituality is how one lives one's daily life. For most people, this means living day by day with one's spouse. Marriage is where spiritual life is practiced or not. It is a couple's primary and proper path to holiness. The Second Vatican Council taught, "Married couples and couples and Christian parents should follow their own proper path to holiness by faithful love, sustaining one another throughout the entire length of their lives."
(Lumen Gentium 41)
Marriage is not just a union. It is a vocation; a 'call' from God to a husband and a wife. The 'call' asks for a response. This response touches almost every aspect of their lives. First and foremost, marriage is a sacrament. A sacrament is a sign that points to God. The union between a husband and wife is one such sign. Their union is a reflection of the intimate life of the Trinity. Their fidelity to one another in the midst of life's variation, failures, achievements, joys, and sorrows is a sign of God's unyielding fidelity and love.
Potentially, marriage is the most complete human relationship. There are no limits to love. However, in reality, love grows in and through facing together day to day issues; work, in-laws, family meals, sex, paying bills, parenting. These every day matters are where couples mostly exercise love and faith and find God. Marriage always begins as romance, but very soon settles into the ordinary. Differences emerge. Conflicting attitudes try one another's patience. Love is challenged. Couples have to learn how to work through these difficulties as they remain faithful and loving. Fidelity is much more than not committing adultery. It requires couples to remain open to one another amids the chances and changes of life. Persevering fidelity is a way to become holy.
Forgiveness and acceptance is another couple's path to holiness. No married relationship can prosper unless the spouses practice forgiveness and accepting the imperfections of one another. Being civil to one another is an act of virtue, especially when you are feeling stressed and irritable. Holiness is achieved by not giving in to grouchiness. Self-surrender, whole it is a spiritual ideal, is expressed in marriage through one's body. Body expresses the person in a physical way. Our bodies are created in the image and likeness of God. They are made for love. Only humans have a body that is informed by an immortal and rational soul. Our bodies are us. When a husband and a wife give themselves to one another they give of their very person. This is a gift of love expressed through their bodies.
No spirituality, including married spirituality, is sustained without prayer. Constant prayer and frequenting the sacraments are a couple's primary means of keeping a vision of faith alive in a marriage. Husbands and wives participate in their marriage in acts of creation. Prayer motivates couples to make life choices that correspond to the Gospel. Prayer brings grace and strength to exercise those choices. In particular, the Eucharist keeps the memory of Jesus alive. It encourages couples to live Christ's self-sacrificing love for others in their own marriage. By attending to prayer and the sacraments, couples can be assured that they are on a path that leads to God.
Source: Fr. M. Gilbert.