The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen…short talks

If it be a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God, it is a more terrible thing to fall out of them.

The good repent on knowing their sin; the evil become angry when discovered.

He came to put a harlot above a Pharisee, a penitent robber above a High Priest, and a prodigal son above his exemplary brother. To all the phonies and fakers who would say that they could not join the Church because His Church was not holy enough, He would ask, “How holy must the Church be before you will enter into it?” if the Church were as holy as they wanted it to be, they would never be allowed into it! In every other religion under the sun, in every Eastern religion from Buddhism to Confucianism, there must always be some purification before one can commune with God. But Our Blessed Lord brought a religion where the admission of sin is the condition of coming to Him. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are ill”

Unhappy souls almost always blame everyone but themselves for their miseries. Shut up within themselves, they are necessarily shut off from all others except to criticize them. Since the essence of sin is opposition to God’s will, it follows that the sin of one individual is bound to oppose any other individual whose will is in harmony with God’s will. This resulting estrangement from one’s fellow man is intensified when one begins to live solely for the world, then the possessions of the neighbor are regarded as something unjustly taken from oneself. Once the material becomes the goal of life, a society of conflicts is born.

Very harmful effects can follow accepting the philosophy which denies personal guilt or sin and thereby makes everyone nice. By denying sin, the nice people make a cure impossible. Sin is most serious and the tragedy is deepened by the denial that we are sinners…The really unforgivable sin is the denial of sin, because, by its nature, there is now nothing to be forgiven. By refusing to admit to personal guilt, the nice people are made into scandalmongers, gossips, talebearers, and super-critics, for they must project their real if unrecognized guilt to others. This, again, gives them a new illusion and goodness: the increase of faultfinding is in direct ratio and proportion to the denial of sin.

The more He loved those for whom He was the ransom, the more His anguish would increase, as it is the faults of friends rather than enemies which most disturb hearts!

Modern prophets say that our economics have failed us. No! It is not our economics which have failed; it is man who has failed-man who has forgotten God. Hence no manner of economic or political readjustment can possible save our civilization; we can be saved only by a renovation of the inner man, only by the purging of our hearts and souls; for only by seeking first the Kingdom of God and His Justice will all these other things be added unto us.

The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen The soul cannot be seen in a biological laboratory, any more than pain can be seen on an operating table.

Holiness must have a philosophical and theological foundation, namely, Divine truth; otherwise it is sentimentality and emotionalism. Many would say later on, “we want religion, but no creeds.: This is like saying we want healing, but no science of medicine; music, but no rules of music; history, but no documents. Religion is indeed a life, but it grows out of truth.:\

It is not easy to explain why God permits evil, but it is impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness. How could a spiritless, soul-less, cross-less, Godless universe become the center of faith, purity, sacrifice, and martyrdom? How can decency be the decent thing if there is not God? Since god is love, why should we be surprised that want of it should end in pain, hate, broken hearts, and war?

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned….

Surely, I wait for the LORD;
who bends down to me and hears my cry,
Draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the muddy clay,
Sets my feet upon rock,
steadies my steps, (from Psalm 40:2-3)

When we talk about the spiritual life it can often be described in terms that are jarring to the ear but speak truth to the heart. I was reflecting on Psalm 40 for the past couple of weeks trying to focus my soul on God’s beauty and mercy. A couple weeks ago my penance given to me by my confessor was to pray a psalm and when opened my Bible to look for a particular psalm, not Psalm 40, I noticed several verses underlined in Psalm 40 so my eyes paused and I began to pray the psalm and this has been my reflection and my penance for the past few weeks.
Sin can seem to be like being stuck in a pit and like walking through muddy clay. It at first doesn’t seem to hard to climb your way out or to walk to your destination but the more and more you try the walls become slicker and the boots become more and more caked with heavy mud with each step. And we believe as Catholics that the Sacrament of Reconciliation and pray releases us and give us a “helping hand” to climb out of the pit and shake the mud off the boots.

And puts a new song in my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in fear
and they shall trust in the LORD. (Ps 40:4)

But this takes time and much spiritual and psychological effort in changing the directions because while the helping hand is extended and the boots are cleansed we still are only beginning the climb and we must continue to walk towards the true destination of holiness and union with Jesus Christ. Trusting in Jesus during this moment is hard but extremely necessary but so very hard to do…
We see Jesus easily ascend from the pit and his steps through the muddy clay don’t seem to make an impression. He, with love and mercy, invites us to climb with him to walk with him, in trust, but how often do we respond, even after knowing his healing mercy, say, “I can do it!” like a petulant 2 year old.

You, yes you, O LORD, my God,
have done many wondrous deeds!
And in your plans for us
there is none to equal you.
Should I wish to declare or tell them,
too many are they to recount. (Ps 40:6)

And yet when I return again to confession, to ask that my particular sins be forgiven: our loving Father will offer us once more full and complete forgiveness. Why? God’s plan for us is so much greater and demands something greater, union with Him, that is wondrous and beyond words but demand to be told by our lives. Knowing his plan for me is a stark and strong reminder of the temptation for complacency or the attitude of permissiveness to enter into the temptations surrounding me and temptations surrounding all of us. To recount God’s blessings is not to live in the sin He has released me from but rather to fully embrace the holiness, the call to be a saint, which is God’s plan for me. Allowing my fears to be replaced by the confidence and trust of allowing the mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation of Jesus to help me to climb out and walk through the traps of life.

Sacrifice and offering you do not want;
you opened my ears.
Holocaust and sin-offering you do not request;
so I said, “See; I come
with an inscribed scroll written upon me. (Ps 40:7)

In the sacramental grace of mercy and reconciliation we can become the scroll upon which is written the laws of love and we live as open books shining forth the generosity of God for all to see. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us in echoing the promises made by the prophets, “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.” Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Heb 10:15-17)
The gratitude and gift of perseverance for the grace and mercy received is life giving and allows us to reach out again and again. Carrying the law of God, the Word of God—Jesus Christ on our hearts strengthens and spurs us on to the greater gifts God has in store for His sons and daughters. The pits of mire and the paths of sodden clay become less deep and drier as we begin to avoid the near occasions of sin and place ourselves in the bright sun light of Christ love. this is our hope and the promise Jesus makes when we in sincerity of heart cry out….Forgive me Father for I have sinned.

Though I am afflicted and poor,
my Lord keeps me in mind.
You are my help and deliverer;
my God, do not delay! (Ps 40:18)

God Bless,
Fr. Mark

Change is always happening and at times it can be a good thing at others it seems the change is just part of life that disturbs the peace we seem to be living in. Last spring I learned that my friend Hra. Silvia Frias MESST had been reassigned by her order from their house in San Jose to their community in Puebla Mexico.
I have known Hermana Silvia for the past 20 years as we began our ministry in the Diocese of San Jose, I as a pastoral year seminarian at St. Catherine of Alexandria and she as a new pastoral associate. During these years we have worked together for six years and have celebrated and prayed together more times than can be counted. You always know there will be change but when it is announced and the reality sets in of the change there are the normal fears, sadness and some doubt.

But in faith I also know something else is occurring beyond my eyes and own personal feelings. It is the Church growing and blessing. One of the great lessons I have learned, and have to relearn again, is the mystery of God’s grace and the movement of the Holy Spirit in the overall big Church and in the daily lives of we who are called to serve God.
First, there is the blessing of newness. Both for Hermana Silvia and the community of San Jose will experience this blessing. In her new community, like all of us who move in life, she will find new blessings in her ministry. The community she enters will find in her a daughter called to serve and be blessed by her ministry. Some of the, “that is the way it is done”, syndrome we can fall into will be unstuck and new moments of proclaiming the Gospel will be open. And these moves aren’t always physical or long distance, sometimes it is a child moving out, a parent dying, a friend getting married or even a change of classroom and teacher for a student can spark this blessing.

Second, there is the blessing of sameness. We are one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church and no matter where we go in the world we will find the same blessings we receive in the place we are now residing. We are called to serve our brothers and sisters in mercy and love through the same baptismal promises universally lived by those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The architecture may be different, the language may be changed but the Sacramental life of the Church remains the same. The foundation is secure and upon this in the changes we may stand in trust and hope.

As we celebrated her farewell Mass earlier this week so many memories and blessings Hra. Silvia has shared with the Diocese of San Jose, her parish communities, her friends came to mind that they may not be counted or all told…but here is one very simple reminder of her joy and service…when we worked together in Morgan Hill at St. Catherine of Alexandria I asked one afternoon, how her day was going…she began by telling me of the many families she had visited that week at their homes. She shared the sufferings, the illnesses, the troubles each family offered in prayer. She talked about the healings taking place, the preparation for dying that had begun and the ongoing heroic struggles. She talked about the faith of the people and the inspiration she gathered from them, the inspiration of hope and blessing she was now sharing with me. This was the ministry she carried out each week that was often hidden but was even more important than the visible ministry at the parish. In hearing and praying with her that day I am thankful for the newness and the sameness of change because in these blessings we truly discover Jesus Christ present and alive.
Adiós Hermana Silvia…buen viaje.
God Bless
Fr. mark

Videos talking about the Wisdom of Bishop Sheen

If we use our lives for other purposes than those given by God, not only do we miss happiness, but we actually hurt ourselves and beget in us queer little “kinks.”

“Love of God thus becomes the dominant passion of life; like every other worth-wile love, it demands and inspires sacrifice. But love of God and man, as an ideal has lately been replaced by the new ideal of tolerance which inspires no sacrifice. Why should any human being in the world be merely tolerated?”

The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen: Conversion…will revive shepherds who shepherd rather than administrate, reverse the proportion of saints and scholars in favor of saints, create more reapers for the harvest, more pillars of fire for the lukewarm…

The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen: “Love of self without love of God is selfishness; love of neighbor without love of God embraces only those who are pleasing to us, not those who are hateful.”

And as religion fades so will freedom, for only where the spirit of God is, is there liberty.

The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen: “In moments when fever, agony, and pain make it hard to pray, the suggestion of prayer that comes from merely holding the rosary–or better still, from caressing the Crucifix at the end of it–is tremendous!”

The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen: “Your soul has a cdrtain infinity about it, because it is spiritual. But you body, like the world around you, is material, limited, “cabined, cribbed, confined.” 4 September 2022

Where in the world is West Bend Iowa and why would anyone visit it? Who is Fr. Paul Dobberstein and why is anyone interested in a priest who died the 1954?

These are two questions I would have asked several months ago. Here are my answers now. In West Bend Iowa at the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul is one of the most amazing grottos I have ever seen that was dreamed of and constructed by Fr. Paul Dobberstein. I will certainly attach some photos I took while visiting The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption as it is known.

I wrote a little last week about my trip across the United States to South Bend Indiana and Notre Dame University and on my way home I stopped at some interesting places but this one was unscheduled. When I planned by daily drive I would look through nearby towns that I would pass by to see if they have any interesting things to see. When I look around for something interesting near the wolds largest gnome in Ames Iowa and then to my next stop which was “The Worlds Largest Ball of Twine” in Cawker City Kansas the only thing popping up which I thought would be interesting was this grotto.
At first I balked at going to West Bend Iowa because it was not exactly on “the way” but needed to have a big detour to get there. Even the morning of my visit, as I was thinking about the extra miles and time it would take to get to this little out of the way town I almost decided to do something else but, thanks be to God, I didn’t make that terrible decision.
What I found was amazing, filled my heart with joy and, believe me, was so beautiful the pictures I attach do not do this grotto justice.
You can check out the link I will post below to read more about the story.
I only relate this story as a way we can understand the spiritual journey, “the way” to follow Jesus. In my spiritual journey I cannot count the number of detours that have produced great fruit. How many side stops became touchstones of grace and blessing. And most notable the various out of “the way” stops that I tried to avoid that have deepened and enriched my life of faith.

Sometimes we can become so laser focused on an objective, we loose sight of the journey between the beginning and the end. We want to find the most efficient and least complicated pathway without realizing the richness of the roadside diner as compared to a fast-food restaurant.

Seventeen years later I cannot imagine how my priesthood would be different if I did not accept the invitation to celebrate Mass with a group of sisters (Eucharistic Missionaries of the Most Holy Trinity MESST) that have now become friends, spiritual companions and who I am honored to serve as chaplain.
Or how in my first year at St. Catherine of Alexandria parish serving with a priest from Ghana Africa, (Fr. Paul Mensah), would have enriched my priesthood with a journey to his home and the eye opening experience of the joy of the Church and the great need for education to the poor of the out of the way places in our world.
Lastly, how a group of parishioners at St. Lucy introduced me to a team from the St. John Paul II Healing Center. How I thought I could just let them do their presentation and I would be “just” a gracious host. But in prayer and with the Holy Spirit, “the way” with and to Jesus Christ became much clearer through this experience.

And I could give examples for days but these three, connect with the journey to see a giant gnome and a large ball of twine..but what was between became the greatest grace of all.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

http://www.westbendgrotto.com

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

I was talking with someone earlier this week and the topic of our summer vacations came up. I explained my vacation and studies trip this summer and he was surprised that I chose to drive from California, to Idaho, to Indiana and then back to Santa Clara. My response was that there was so much to see, the beauty of the earth and the joy, the profoundness and the silliness of our human endeavors too.
Sitting in a car and driving down interstate highways as well as smaller state roads gives you appreciation of both God’s work and the creative genius of the human spirit. I have begun to appreciate more and more the travel and process of getting to a place rather than my youthful…put the car in drive and don’t stop until you get where you are going. Of course this takes time…which we can often lack in our busy schedules…but it is something to be taken seriously in using our time wisely to enjoy and give honor to the beauty surrounding us.

I have found that even in the place I grew up, central Idaho, I missed a lot in my youth. My brother took me on a small ride to a place where he is working on building a house. It was a beautiful journey and one that I had never been on and roads I had not traveled even though it was less than an hour from where I grew up. Seeing things with new eyes and taking time to rest in the beauty is important for each of us and human beings made in the image and likeness of God.
Because the spiritual life can be very similar to these journeys that we take and seeing new things in familiar places. I was reminded of this in visiting and driving through some of the small midwestern towns with their beautiful churches and at times bumping into a parishioner who, in kindness and hospitality, would often show off “their parish” with pride to a strange Californian priest wandering through.

This stop was a reminder of how in the our prayer life something will pop up into our minds or a prayer will come into our hearts and if we rush by thinking. “Oh that is a pretty prayer” without stopping, getting off our routine treadmill and seeking to enter into a conversation with God we miss a beauty that is irreplaceable and will swiftly fall into the jumble of life and be forgotten.
It is also a reminder of taking time to laugh and smile with God and discover the deeper joys of prayer in service of his people. Like the world’s largest Garden Gnome in Ames Iowa.

Stopping to see this wonder of the world only to discover an artist creating sculptures of scrap metal. Searching out and spending time in joyous blessings leads to greater and more profound discoveries of God’s presence, beauty and wonder in our lives and in the world.
Last but not least is giving thanks…each morning, each night and in each encounter to give thanks to God for the the gift of life. Once more, this moment of thanks stops you in your tracks…it pauses your mind to take notice and give glory to God…this is the wonder of life.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

YouTube posts.

Sometimes it is just really hard to begin once you have stopped. It has been months since my last posting of thoughts and reflections and each time I sit down in front of the computer screen to write about something…excuses begin to enter into my mind and distractions begin be discovered and another day will pass.
I shared this part of my spiritual journey a couple of weeks ago during a homily. How, the soccer (football) season in England, begins on television at 4:30 a.m. and the choices this invites me to make. The first choice is to get out our bed. I am usually awake at this time so this is not to hard. The second choice is at 5:00 a.m. I normally go over to the church and spend my Holy Hour in front of the tabernacle in prayer. The decision to step away from the television and the ease of watching the game rather than walking over to the church to pray is a temptation that can be hard to resist…especially when I am texting my older brother in conversation about the game being played. I know that the right choice is and most of the time I choose to spend the best part of my day with God and trust in the games that are being played later in the day.

I write this little story because, If I don’t go over at 5:00 a.m. then all my “plans” of doing it later in the day fall to dust as I get busy and find other distractions to hold me away from this vital and important moment of prayer.
This same thing happens when I write…in making the transition from St. Lucy Parish to St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish almost a year ago I lost the tempo, space and “normal time” to write. The routine disappeared and I discovered distractions are much easier to follow than the work of writing.
It is not that I didn’t have good intentions. I have a small note book full of ideas to write about. I have several dozen “beginnings” saved on the computer where I didn’t complete what I had begun.
Therefore on this day of 16 August 2022 I am making a new commitment to put forward weekly posts for two very small reasons.
It makes me think about where God is in my life at this moment. It is not that this isn’t on my mind often, rather it is the intentionality of forming my thoughts and prayers around a singular idea about the presence of God in a focused way. In a way it is reminding me to be renewed each day and moment and be unafraid to share these thought and prayers with others.
It organizes my life. Routine in prayer and service is so very important. I talk about how I need to schedule my prayer…to schedule celebrations of Mass…and to take time in personal and emotional growth in a structured manner. Writing is one of the ways I do this and my growth in all these senses has been lessened over the past six months of not taking the time to write these posts.
So there it is…I will have a post ready for this Friday August 19 and with God’s grace and a little perseverance on my part I will succeed.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

It is a blessing to continue to walk with Venerable Fulton Sheen in listening to his wisdom. Here are some thoughts from a few of the quotes from the first two weeks of February.

February 8: “Council involving right and wrong should never be sought from a man who does not say his prayers.“
Why would Bishop Sheen say this? Surely it simply isn’t because he is a Catholic Bishop? I think a yes and no is the best answer. As Christians we believe there is a Divine wisdom that informs the soul of each person and this wisdom is grown through a knowledge of Jesus Christ and God’s plan of redemption and salvation. But it also means that the person looks to something greater than their own desires and whims. And as we see in the quote below, this something greater is founded in love of neighbor…love of the other where the good for all is the highest good.

February 4: “Love is the key to the mystery. Love by its very nature is not selfish, but generous. It seeks not its own, but the good of others. The measure of love is not the pleasures it gives – that is the way the world judges it – but the joy and peace it can purchase for others.”
As we mature in a relationship….our prayers to God…the selfish desire for love begins to disappear and the unitive aspect of love begins to grow deeper and more completely in all relationships. The infatuation of love which often consumes the young heart and twist the desire of mutual and joyous affection into a placing of the other on the pedestal of worship must through generosity seek to honor and dignity of the other to become true love where joy and peace reign.

February 10: “Grace does not work like a penny in a slot machine. Grace will move you only when you want it to move you, and only when you let it move you. The supernatural order supposes the freedom of the natural order, but it does not destroy it.”
The actions of love and salvation don’t happen without the buy-in of our call to find our true self. There is a natural desire in the heart of every person to the unity of love. It cannot be demanded upon command but is the participation of two in the perpetual covenant of love. The mutual love, the “supernatural order” of love invites the equal and mutual participation in the covenant of marriage but also in submitting to the will of God in binding hearts to the Most Sacred Heart of his Son in the great act of sacrificial love.

February 6: “You cannot always depend on prayers to be answered the way you want them to be answered but you can always depend on God. God, the loving Father often denies us those things which in the end would prove harmful to us. Every boy wants a revolver at age four, and no father yet has ever granted that request. Why should we think God is less wise? Someday we will thank God not only for what he gave us, but also for that which he refused.”

The passions of the moment, the desire to move God and His grace to bend to our will can become the one-sided conversation of prayer that too often happens in our lives. Bishop Sheen reminds us of how prayer must be a conversation of listening and speaking and then listening more. God whispers…the world shouts and screams. God is patient…the world demands immediate and complete attention. God is gentle…the world is harsh. The world is not bad…but we, as Christian disciples, are called to bring the virtues, the works of mercy and the movement of love into the world where God’s persistent love slowly changes our hearts and the heart of the world.

February 13: “A divine trick has been played on the human heart as if a violin teacher gave his pupil an instrument with one string missing. God kept a part of man’s heart in Heaven, so that discontent would drive him back again to Him Who is Eternal Life, All-Knowing Truth and the Abiding Ecstasy of Love.”

St. Augustine of Hippo wrote in speaking of our desire for God’s presence in our life, “Our hearts are restless until the rest in You.” This is the “divine trick” of love but it is also found in the blessing of unitive love between people. The agape love of seeking the best in a brother or sister, to desire the best for a friend, to draw out the best of a spouse or child in sacrificial and gracious love. In my own “yes” to love in the vocation of priesthood I know the peace of resting in the heart of God’s love because my heart was restless until I answered with my true and complete“yes” to the invitation to love and life.

I hope you are all continuing to enjoy “The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen”

God Bless
Fr. Mark.

In marriage the sacramental gift of love is united to the graces given in each Sacrament received and is especially transformed in the gift of Eucharistic love, the gift of self to one another as man and woman. Cardinal Kasper writes, “The Christian faith does not find its orientation in a system of intellectual propositions. Its point of references is always a concrete person, namely, Jesus Christ. People found this intolerable and irritating: how can this man, who we know to be the son of Joseph and his mother we know, make such a claim, presenting himself as the Son of God? The Gospel tells us that they “murmured.” Later on, Paul was to write that the message of the cross was a scandal to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23).” (P 49 “Sacrament of Unity” Walter Cardinal Kasper) The point of reference, the person of Jesus Christ, is also the point of reference in any marriage and in reality to each and every Sacrament we participate in during our life of discipleship.

Marriage is not an intellectual proposition. It is a relationship formed between and man and a woman with the desire for an eternity of love. A lifelong commitment to service and sacrifice, to love and blessing seen in the covenant between God and His people brought into the living reality of the two becoming one. And yes, I know that some will say this is “an intellectual proposition” on its own, but in reality it is an act of faith where the cross becomes a shared gift and sacrifice where walking along is no longer a possibility but where the marriage walks with Jesus and takes up the cross to follow him.
When we proclaim in the vows of sacramental love the truth of God’s plan for a lifelong covenant between the man and the woman the world does begin to murmur the doubts, fears and the scandal of the audacity of such a gift. But, the claim comes with the promise of grace shared and given in the presence of Jesus Christ. The world may doubt the praise but we join together in faith…the world my fear the sacrifice but we embrace the gift…the world my shout at the scandal but we rejoice and are glad in the truth of God that His Kingdom is present in the joy we share.
“When a man and a woman in marriage mutually give and receive each other in the unity of “one flesh “, the logic of the sincere gift of self becomes a part of their life. Without this, marriage would be empty; where as a community of persons, built on this logic, becomes a communion of parents.” (“The Civilization of Love” Pope Saint John Paul II) The free will of the mutual gift of one to the other relies on the loving sacrifice where we are called to empty ourselves to grow ever greater in receiving the other. The “murmuring” of doubt and fear above become the murmuring of love between the couple in becoming one in the hope of grace. The receiving of one to the other and through the other is the recognition of the joyful unity of trinity.

In marriage the sacramental gift of love is united to the graces given in each Sacrament received and is especially transformed in the gift of Eucharistic love, the gift of self to one another as man and woman. Cardinal Kasper writes, “The Christian faith does not find its orientation in a system of intellectual propositions. Its point of references is always a concrete person, namely, Jesus Christ. People found this intolerable and irritating: how can this man, who we know to be the son of Joseph and his mother we know, make such a claim, presenting himself as the Son of God? The Gospel tells us that they “murmured.” Later on, Paul was to write that the message of the cross was a scandal to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23).” (P 49 “Sacrament of Unity” Walter Cardinal Kasper) The point of reference, the person of Jesus Christ, is also the point of reference in any marriage and in reality to each and every Sacrament we participate in during our life of discipleship.
Marriage is not an intellectual proposition. It is a relationship formed between and man and a woman with the desire for an eternity of love. A lifelong commitment to service and sacrifice, to love and blessing seen in the covenant between God and His people brought into the living reality of the two becoming one. And yes, I know that some will say this is “an intellectual proposition” on its own, but in reality it is an act of faith where the cross becomes a shared gift and sacrifice where walking alone is no longer a possibility but where the marriage walks with Jesus and takes up the cross to follow him.

When we proclaim in the vows of sacramental love the truth of God’s plan for a lifelong covenant between the man and the woman the world begins to murmur the doubts, fears and the scandal of the audacity of such a gift. But, the claim comes with the promise of grace shared and given in the presence of Jesus Christ. The world may doubt the praise but we join together in faith…the world my fear the sacrifice but we embrace the gift…the world my shout at the scandal of eternal love but we rejoice and are glad in the truth of God that His Kingdom is present in the joy we share.
“When a man and a woman in marriage mutually give and receive each other in the unity of “one flesh “, the logic of the sincere gift of self becomes a part of their life. Without this, marriage would be empty; where as a community of persons, built on this logic, becomes a communion of parents.” (“The Civilization of Love” Pope Saint John Paul II) The free will of the mutual gift of one to the other relies on the loving sacrifice where we are called to empty ourselves to grow ever greater in receiving the other. The “murmuring” of doubt and fear above become the murmuring of love between the couple in becoming one in flesh in the hope of joyful grace. The receiving of one to the other and through the other is the recognition of the joyful unity of trinitarian love within the marital embrace. If we return once more to the reality of the person of Jesus Christ alive and within the embrace of love we begin to experience the joyfulness of love and how the sacrificial blessing have their foundation in the gift of of the cross that becomes the invitation to gracious love.. It is the movement of grace and peace that fills the lifelong unity with the daily experiences, the small moments and the little acts of intentional gifts of shared life.
It is not to say there is never disappointment, heartache or sufferings in the marital life, but in the sacramental decision of covenantal love, we know there is more and even these moments deepen the unity of familial grace.
“The natural dynamisms of love—affection, love in a strict sense, and sexuality—are seized by the power of Jesus Christ, bridegroom of the church, and are opened to the depths of the nuptial mystery.” (P. 80–81 “The Nuptial Mystery” Angelo Cardinal Scola) Love truly is a mystery and each word that is spoken reflects the personal encounter between two people reflecting the glorious love God has shared with us through His son our Lord Jesus Christ. We are seized by the power of love. It is allowing our hearts and souls to be seized by God and by the other which the thickness of loves seeps ever deeper into our heart. Each moment of shared love is an intimate act of offering, sacrificing and emptying to be filled to the greater in taking our heart and placing in the heart of the beloved. Jesus reminds us in the Eucharistic sacrifice to “do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19) to be broken and shared in love, we too are called in the sacramental gift of love to do this: to be broken, to be shared, to live the fullness of love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

Fr. Mark