A Pope, a Bishop and a Priest
The Tenderness of an Embrace #27- 30 (AL)
“Love also bears fruit in mercy and forgiveness”(#27 AL)
As we prepare for the 50th Anniversary of Worldwide Marriage Encounter in the United States and Canada I am going to offer some reflection on Marriage using a Pope (Francis), a Bishop (Fulton Sheen) and a Priest (Fr. Chuck Gallagher SJ) to reflect on the genius of the Marriage Encounter movement.
One of the greatest gifts I receive continually is ministering to families who are seeking to live a life fully in union with each other and God. I see this most clearly in the two points of marriage that may seem odd…one at the beginning and the other at an end. The natural moment is the birth of a child in the marriage where you see this reality in what Pope Francis teaches, “Love so central to the Christian experience of marriage and the family, another virtue stands out, one often overlooked in our world of frenetic and superficial relationships. It is tenderness.”(#28 AL) The other moment of tenderness is often at the end of a life. I have prayed with countless couples where one spouse is ministering to the other with this gift of tenderness that is so profound that it takes breath away.
It is this lived experience of growing in tenderness. In our mission of Marriage Encounter we witness to this reality each day. Fr. Gallagher wrote this truth we all share, “Nothing brings out the real personal qualities of a human being such as depth, tenderness, extraordinary generosity and willingness to sacrifice, as does gentle love for another person.” (p 28 ME)
I made my first weekend as part of the Spanish Encuentro. Looking back at the Divine Providence of this part of my journey I am amazed how God worked in the moment. The tenderness of God’s love manifested itself in my participation of listening more attentively with the eyes of my heart as God’s invitation to “get out of my head” was made easier in letting the words being spoken drift away as I began to witness the tenderness of God’s invitation to love.
It is in the our gift of sharing our vocation that Bishop Sheen reminds us is a gift of the Divine, “In Divine service and in marriage therefore, there should be a generosity that goes quite beyond the limits of justice.” (p 26 GM ) I remember clearly the moment I “got it” on the weekend. Seeing a couple on Sunday morning being made new in the eternal love of God where, “The tug between what is immediate and what is interior now vanishes, as they very enjoyment that the immediacy of the flesh gives becomes the occasion for joy in the interiority of the soul which knows that one is using it for God’s proposes and for the salvation of both souls.” (p 31 GM) In their choosing to offer their love/life/soul to the other, in this miraculous moment I was give the blessing of witnessing God’ gracious love lived out in sacramental love.
It is here, in the tenderness of the embrace of God and each other where our call as Sacraments of love, as married couples, priests, sisters and brothers, we live out God’s plan for our lives. We know we each have a mission which God invites us to share. When we choose uniquely to live out this call then we allow our Sacrament to be light to the world. “Each couple has their own unique love that only they can express. Marriage Encounter, through the dialogue, offers to each couple a way to let the love between them come forth loud and clear, without interference.” (p 28 ME) The genius of God’s blessing to each couple/priest/religious is in the gift of dialogue we truly begin to discover our way in following Christ’s Way as disciples who proclaim the truth of marriage as the wonder within our world.
Our dream of happy and holy marriages we share each day of our lives, Bishop Sheen shares reinforces in his powerful and prophetic voice, “In this way, the dream of the bride and groom for eternal happiness really comes true, not in themselves alone, but through themselves. Now they love each other not as they dreamed they would, but as God dreamed they would.” (p 31 GM) The call to live “not in…but through” our Sacrament is the liberating gift of being fully alive in our grace filled gift God has offered all married couples.
Let us pray,
God and Father of us all,
in Jesus, your Son and our Savior,
you have made us
your sons and daughters
in the family of the Church.
May your grace and love
help our families
in every part of the world
be united to one another
in fidelity to the Gospel.
May the example of the Holy Family,
with the aid of your Holy Spirit,
guide all families, especially those most troubled,
to be homes of communion and prayer
and to always seek your truth and live in your love.
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us! (p 117 LOF)
“Amoris Laetitia: The Joy of Love” Pope Francis (2016) (AL)
“The Marriage Encounter” Fr. Chuck Gallagher, SJ (1975) (ME)
“Three to Get Married” Bishop Fulton Sheen (1951) (GM)
“The 21 Undeniable Secrets of Marriage” Dr. Allen Hunt (2015) (USM)
“Love Is Our Family: The Family Fully Alive” USCCB (2014) (LOF)