Nor do all couples fight — many do and a few do not. What is hellish are marriages in which the spouses are not living according to the divine plan, or they are not deeply converted from their sins, mortal and venial.
I’ve been putting off writing this post because I’ve written a lot lately about how great my marriage and my husband are. One of the things brought up at the forum was other moms’ hesitance to be so vocal about their happy marriages — because being vocal somehow may offend others or make them feel bad if their own marriages aren’t as happy… or it could be misinterpreted as bragging. I do agree there is that factor to consider and I vacillate as well when I make these posts. But then I go back to the 50% divorce rate so often quoted in articles, and I don’t think that muting ourselves is the answer. I don’t think we are doing marriage any favors when we keep quiet about how and why our marriages work.
p. 63
Jesus himself plainly said that it is by our love that the world will come to know that we are his disciples (Jn 13:35). A saint is homilist without saying a word, a powerful proclamation of revealed truth and splendor.
I am reminded anew of a friend’s reassurance that the way we help promote the culture of life is just by living the way we live. If we live lives of authentic love, we can change the world.
Saint Catherine of Siena (in her letter 368) remarked that “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze.” Saints do indeed light fires — and the reason is the title of this volume.
p. 64, on deep conversion and deep prayer:
They are not merely juxtaposed, one next to the other. Each one helps to bring about the other. The more we are rid of our egocentrisms the more we are opened to the divine infusions of love and intimacy.
why profound conversion? It triggers inexpressible joy. If one doubts this, let him try it.
– LOVE LOVE LOVE this quote.
While I can’t say I’ve been 100% converted (still have a lot to work on obviously!!) I’ve found that the more I commit to following Him the more I experience REAL, OVERFLOWING JOY in my life. It doesn’t happen every day, but I notice that it happens most often when I put Him and His will FIRST above all else.
It is difficult to believe that advocates of abortion do not see that any sin is pro-choice, or it would not be a sin. The rapist is pro-choice, or it would not be a sin. The rapist is pro-choice, and so are the thief and adulterer and the liar.
Genuine love is self-sacrificial.
Genuine love means, “I desire your well-being… and all that that implies.” Lord, help me to live this every single day, and help me to love everyone that You put in my path, with a genuine love.
He is always endlessly lovable even when the neighbor is ugly, hurtful or an enemy.
Oi. I need to remember this often, esp. these days when anti-life people, or even some of the ones close to me, are being petty or whiny or just plain not-as-lovable as other days.
But the supreme example, the matchless exemplar of real love, is Jesus being slowly tortured to death on his Cross out of nothing but a total self-gift for you and me. The Crucifixion and all that went before it is, in our universe the supreme horror and the supreme beauty.
Sigh. Speechless before this Truth.
This too:
Real love is uncommon in our world because full conversion is uncommon.
And this:
The Lord’s statement to Blessed Angela of Foligno applies likewise to all of us: “Make yourself a capacity and I will make myself a torrent.” With his grace we open ourselves by deep conversion and he eagerly pours out by his Spirit a deluge of love (Rom 5:5).
Two posts/articles today that caught my eye — they both write about how beautiful marriage can and ought to be:
From Leila, who is reading through Casti Connubii, over at Like Mother, Like Daughter:
Husbands: Your wife is making a sanctuary for you, as well as all the other things she does. Your home. This sanctuary is hidden from most. But it is your delight. Belittle this gift at your peril.
Wives: Your husband is making it possible for you to be a maker of a sanctuary, the heart of what you build together. If you tear it down with your own hands, you are tearing out your own heart. (Proverbs 14)
And, like my husband, this guy gets it: I’m a Guy and I’ll Never Badmouth My Wife.
Here’s my challenge to the real men out there; it’s very simple. If you have a good marriage, talk about it.
Unless those of us who love our wives (and thus, our lives) make a conscious change to the way we speak of them, unless we begin choosing to elevate and praise our spouses instead of denigrate, we will be letting an incredibly corrosive self-perpetuating societal meme destroy the very institution that defines our lives.
Yup, he gets it.
Recent Comments