A platform that encourages healthy conversation, spiritual support, growth and fellowship
NOLACatholic Parenting Podcast
A natural progression of our weekly column in the Clarion Herald and blog
The best in Catholic news and inspiration - wherever you are!
Society has changed over the last generation or two. I remember hearing parents telling their young people contemplating marriage to choose from their own people. I didn’t understand that at all. I didn’t see any reason why two people couldn’t just get married.
In the past, someone married within his or her own culture, neighborhood, status, faith, etc. This was supposed to minimize the difficulties of marriage that young couples were bound to face.
Surviving and thriving in marriage takes more than just being “in love.”
Very few people go straight from their parental home to a home of their own with a spouse. Meeting others occurs while in college, business, sometimes in high school, etc. Wherever the meeting occurs, marriage requires a lot more preparation than just happening to have common interests. In speaking with people, I often hear a common phrase that “proves” their love: “We can finish each other’s sentence!”
Marriage was created by God for two major purposes: for procreation and for the bonding of the couple. There is another reason, which most of us overlook, ignore or don’t understand: Marriage is the ship we board to travel to our salvation in Christ.
Marriage is more than a lifestyle. It is our opportunity to “lay our lives down for another.”
When we treat marriage like a lifestyle, ignoring the purpose for which it was created, we put ourselves in danger of turning away from God.
It is absolutely necessary for the couple to see their marriage as a vocation, a method by which to bring one another to heaven. As a result, the couple has to study, work, play and create an environment to nurture their relationship.
This will mean “constantly peeling the onion of oneself down to the core” and changing ourselves with the grace God gives through the sacrament. It is the couple’s responsibility to respond to that grace as God wills.
If you have questions or struggles, there are resources and help for working on your marriage. Give Catholic Counseling Service a try. We can be reached at (504) 861-6245.