Sower

There are – after all – a million billion reasons for a wife to forgive a husband and a husband to forgive his wife. 

Sacrifice of Love (Leanne Brown)

I have been reflecting on the importance of the vocation of marriage.

There is no secret made of the fact that marriage is very very hard work.

Not only is it the coming together of two strangers who were raised in different homes and within different environments – sometimes even in different countries – but it is a coming together that is designed to last a lifetime.  So a couple who may marry in their twenties, will be expected to adjust to each other and live together well into their nineties and beyond if they have the blessing of living such a long life.

This means that all the things that they imagined at twenty will have come about or changed and who they are at fifty is different from who they were at twenty.  And the things that they wanted at twenty are different from the things that they wanted at fifty.  And still – despite all these variances, we are asked to come together and stay together and be what we need to be to each other and out families.

When we vow – in the Church, during the Sacrament of Marriage – to be together in sickness and health in good times and bad times for as long as we both shall live, we are taking a real vow to remain steadfast in our commitment to each other.  And how difficult a thing that really is!  How hard it is to be married – even with great love and to a great Saint because I myself am sinful.

And what an impact a marriage has on the formation of the children of that union.  Children learn how to be married by watching the interactions of their parents.  And what a responsibility that really is for me as a mother.  You see, when I fail, my children see that, and when I am sinful and impatient they see that also.

And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about how in a truly Christian marriage, the husband and wife must be sowers of joy.  Even though our failures God can work much GOOD.  You see, from my interactions with their father, my children can learn about the importance of forgiveness.  There are – after all – a million billion reasons for a wife to forgive a husband and a husband to forgive his wife.  My children can learn about compassion and effort and commitment.  They can understand about heartbreak and grief.  And they can understand the importance of sowing good so that goodness may be reaped.

There is – after all – no greater opportunity to sacrifice than in the life of a husband or wife.  In this vocation we are committed to giving our lives to another sinful soul and by entrusting them with our lives, we are committing to forgive them their trespasses all the days of our lives.  What a vocation marriage really is!  How much Grace I must need to live this vocation!  How much Grace!

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.