MARRIAGE IS A SCHOOL OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

The readings that you have chosen for today, N and N, have a lot to say about love and Christian marriage. The marriage is a sacrament which joins a man and a woman to each other and makes them one. Through this sacrament you are joined to each other to become one, without losing your individuality. Becoming one doesn’t happen overnight. Becoming one is a school of love and forgiveness. It is something that is learned and that the couple becomes better at as they share their married life together. Becoming one means loving each other, sharing your lives with each other, and always taking each other into consideration. That is what we heard in the second reading: the qualities of Love; Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, love never fails.

People say there is no rose flower without thorns. When two people get married they bring with them to their marriage, normal human behavior and learn to know each other. Don’t throw your partner away when times are tough. We live in a culture that demands instant pleasure. Marriage is not always pleasurable. When some of the feelings begin to wear off, love really begins. After all, it’s easy to love someone when all is well. It’s tough to love when times are tough but that’s what real love is all about.

Jesus gives a wonderful goal to achieve in today’s Gospel as you begin your journey as husband and wife.  He asks you to be the light to the world, and to share that light with others. Marriage is about being light to the world. It is not just being partners, marriage in the Catholic Church is a sacrament. Like all the sacraments, marriage unites the couple with Jesus, and brings them God’s blessings. It is not just husband and wife united to each other in marriage; it is husband and wife united to each other with Jesus in marriage.

In this sense, the couple’s fidelity to each other symbolizes and reflects the faithfulness of God to us his people, and the faithfulness of Christ to the Church. N and N, the sacrament you are about to celebrate calls you to be the mirror of God’ faithfulness to us and Christ’s love to the Church. That is what it means to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. God is always faithful to us his people, Christ is always faithful to the Church and the couple’s promise to be always faithful to each other until death symbolizes and reflects the love of God for his people and the love of Christ for his Church.

The question I ask is this: “Is there anything more beautiful in life than seeing a young man and a young lady exchanging the vow of love? Can there be any thing more beautiful than young love?” And the answer is: “Yes there is a more beautiful thing. It is an old man and an old woman finishing their life’s journey together on the path of love, with their hearts physically bowed and tired, but still strong with love and devotion for one another. Yes there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love is more beautiful.”

How will it work? I have four points: DON’T BE AFRAID TO TRUST. Marriage is a bond of love and openness. As soon as you start holding back, as soon as “you can’t say that because your spouse will get mad, as soon as you start making excuses for not being honest, then you start undermining the relationship. Marriage is for emotionally healthy people. DEVELOP A PERSONAL SPIRITUAL LIFE AND SHARE IT WITH YOUR PARTENER. Put God in between you in your marriage. Make God the third party in your marriage. “It takes three in marriage – a man, a woman and God. If you take away the Lord in marriage the couple is surely heading towards separation. Thus, to make sure that the sanctity of Marriage is preserved, couples must consciously make God part of their plans and decisions and of daily life. Prayer certainly helps marriages to remain strong. MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY. Expecting someone else to make you happy is unfair to yourself and to your partner. The more at peace you are with yourself, the happier you are personally, the more you will bring peace and happiness to your marriage. Love means we’re willing to give our best, not just get something from someone else. ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS DAY. Do not forget the joy you and your families have on this day.

N and N, your family and loved ones gathered here this evening are praying for both of you with whole hearts, we pray that your marriage may reach the heights of Saint Paul’s understanding of love and marriage, that your love for each other may rejoice in the truth of God through honesty and self-giving. We pray that your love for each other will continue to be an experience of God’s love for us.