Forever by Jackie Francois Angel & Bobby Angel

Author:Jackie Francois Angel & Bobby Angel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pauline Books and Media
Published: 2017-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

Daily Challenge

Examine how you viewed marriage growing up. Did you ever plan your wedding as a small child or teenager? What was important to you then? Have you ever made marriage into an idol? Discuss this with your spouse.

Prayer

“You have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.”1

DAY TWO

God Cares Who You Marry

God is a loving communion of persons who desires that we incarnate his love here on earth. That’s a serious task! So it goes without saying that if you are called to marriage, you should probably pick the right traveling buddy for this journey of life-giving love.

We can be tempted, however, by two extreme viewpoints when discerning the right spouse. One extreme is that of the idealized “soul mate.” This is the idea that God has preordained the perfect person for you and you both will ride off on a unicorn into the sunset, perfectly happy forever after. All you have to do, apparently, is sit around and wait until this person crashes into your living room.

The other extreme insists that you will always marry the wrong person. Basically, this is the idea that there is no perfect person for you. God doesn’t really care. You would be equally happy (or miserable) with about forty different people. So just pick one and get on with your life.

There’s been no official document from the Church on “soul mates” but since most virtue is in the middle of two extremes, it seems fair to guess that the virtuous perspective probably lies in the middle here as well.

Marriage “in its deepest essence, emerges from the mystery of God’s eternal love for… humanity” (TOB 90:4). Pope Francis writes: “The sacrament of marriage is not a social convention, an empty ritual, or merely the outward sign of a commitment. The sacrament is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses.”2

In other words, God cares who you marry. You were fashioned by him before time existed—every hair on your head has been counted! If he indeed has plans for your welfare and not your woe (see Jer 29:11), he probably has a person in mind for you to marry. This is no trivial matter to him.

Our job then is to trust that God will provide and to wait on his timing. If we trust God, we avoid settling for any person who breathes or grasping for the wrong kind of love out of fear. Settling out of fear and grasping for love outside of God’s time were the fundamental sins of Adam and Eve.

No matter what, your spouse will be flawed because we are all human beings. We can’t be so picky that we’re only focused on the superficial elements of a person (e.g., he must be a doctor or she must be a supermodel). But we also shouldn’t settle for someone just because he or she is the comfortable or safe option. God does not want you to be miserable. You ought to desire your spouse and they ought to desire what is best for you and want you to go to heaven.

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