Families form the foundation
of human society. But marriage is the cornerstone of the family. And in God’s
Providence, the Sacrament of Marriage is indispensable to the continued growth
of the Church.
Most Catholics marry, but too few understand that marriage is a sacrament to be
lived. For those spouses who are faithful to Christ and His teaching, the
Sacrament of Marriage is a source of grace to them and through them to their
children.
Today, more than ever, Catholic couples need the grace of God to live out their
marriage vows because contemporary Western culture is toxic to children,
families, and marriage. The world preaches the values of the anti-gospel:
praising sexual license, careerism, and various other forms of selfism. What is
more, the West, despite its rhetoric, is in many ways anti-child—committed to a
program of contracepting, aborting, and sundering those children who survive
from their mothers and fathers.
It is especially difficult for those spouses who have trying marriages or who
have been abandoned by their spouse to remain faithful to their marriage vows.
But Jesus Christ promises His grace to His married disciples—grace that enables
them to generously fulfill the demands of the Gospel.
Dear Jesus, please ask the Father to send forth the Spirit of Love to illumine
the minds and strengthen the wills of Christian married couples so that they may
be able to live according to the Divine Will. Holy Virgin, Mother of God and our
most gracious Mother, intercede for all married couples and all families, that
they may be made worthy of the promises of Christ and that one day they will all
be united at the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb.
