Exampling God
(Catechism of the Catholic Church - sect. 2365) – “Fidelity expresses constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. The Sacrament of Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into Christ's fidelity for his Church. Through conjugal chastity, they bear witness to this mystery before the world.”
Marriage is a Sacrament and a sign of God’s love in the world. For those who enter into it, it is their vocation and a path to holiness and sainthood. Through it, they represent God’s love through their faithfulness and charity towards each other. They have access to the grace not only to example God’s love but also to share it (albeit imperfectly) with their children and family. Unfortunately, today, many marriages are not doing a good job of demonstrating this call. Many children have little to no example of what a healthy, holy home looks like.
It is important as husbands and wives, to take this vocation seriously and to understand the deep ramifications that there are in how we live out this call. If we allow the world to guide our marriage, we will be left to figure out love and life from secular self-help books and internet searches on the latest trends in marriage. We will be at the mercy of what the world deems is best, at any one moment in history, based off the ‘trusted research,’ best-selling authors, and political cross winds. Ever changing and ever under pressure from the outside forces, the “world-view” of love is rapidly morphing into one of self-gratifying lust and self-serving gain.
However, if marriage is lived with a dependence on and a trust in God to help us, with a daily (sometimes hourly) plea for Him to grant us His grace, we can example for our children a love that is life-giving, fulfilling, and filled with joy. Our children can then feel the safety of a secure home where faith is transmitted and treasured and mom and dad’s marriage is the guidepost for how to manage life, love sacrificially, and work successfully through worldly problems. Through toiling at our marriages every day, we can show our children and the people around us, a little hope, a steady haven, and a purpose-filled direction in a very dark and ever shifting world.
ACTION STEP: This week, as a couple, talk about more ways that you can both example God’s love in your family interactions. Consider, with humility, ways you, individually, can make a change.