World Marriage Day is celebrated every second Sunday in February, coinciding with Valentine’s Day.
In today’s world, most couples begin a relationship and see where it will go. Once they reach a certain milestone, they will consider marriage. When we, as Catholics, commit to marriage, our love and commitment rise to a new level. When we agree to marry our future husband or wife, we also agree to bring GOD into our lifelong commitment to each other, because we enter into a covenant with GOD.
A covenant is a relationship of commitment with GOD and HIS people. As couples prepare for marriage, they choose scripture that will be used during their wedding ceremony. Most couples will choose scripture from 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a, because of the beautiful words, “Love is patient, love is kind… It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
These are beautiful words. They are powerful words. They really help us to understand that love as a universal understanding does not describe an emotion. Love is an action. Love, as an emotional description is simple, too simple. We can love people, pets, food, etc., if we talk about how those things make us feel. But if we truly want to discuss love, especially for a husband or wife, we must talk about action as in the scripture I just mentioned. Bearing, believing, hoping and enduring are ways that we act or react to our husband or wife.
Most young couples thinking about marriage are blinded by their emotions as they prepare for the sacrament of marriage. They think that their love is the greatest, by comparison to any other couple they can think of. Those of us who have been married for some time, can think back to those days of simplicity. As I reflect on the last almost 20 years of my marriage, I can think of several instances in where I fell deeper and deeper in love with my wife. I ask you to reflect on your marriage and do the same. Look back to the times that there were new developments in your marriage or new challenges – a medical issue, a financial issue, an addition to the family (childbirth), the loss of a loved one. These are all everyday occurrences, yet they are all opportunities to rely on GOD and our husband or wife to help us through these events.
Marriage is such a beautiful experience. Whether we experience the joys of marriage or the challenges of marriage, the beauty of our married lives is that every day, we have the opportunity to love one another more than we did yesterday. Why? Because “Love never fails”.
Each and every act of love that we experience gives us the opportunity to fall deeper in love as a married couple. What better example do we have of love than GOD? Afterall, GOD is LOVE…