Marriage is a Sacrament…What is the goal of your marriage?

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of Mark about marriage…..”But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate”……God created marriage….It is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman….Marriage is also a vocation…The vocational aspect of marriage is not explored enough by our 21st century minds…A vocation by definition is a particular service ordained by God to provide an individual a path to a holy life…Do you look at your marriage as a vocation?

“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh”

When one gets married in the Catholic Church the couple are required to attend Pre-Cana classes where the man and woman are instructed on what it means to have a healthy and authentically Catholic marriage….My wife and I have spoken at a few of those sessions and when I have spoken in front of young couples about to embark on the greatest adventure of their life…I would always begin by asking the couples a question……What is the objection of your marriage?….In essence what I was asking is…What do you want to get out of this union?……What was the answer I was looking for to that question?……..The goal of every Catholic marriage should be to get each other to heaven…NOTHING IS EVEN A CLOSE SECOND!…..My job as a husband is to get my wife to heaven…And her job as a wife is to get me to heaven….Period Full Stop!….How do we do that?….We do that by dying to ourself….We do that by living out each and everyday sacrificial love…We are then strengthened by daily prayer….Weekly fasting…Monthly Confession…Weekly reception of the Eucharist in the state of grace…..What is the greatest killer of marriages?…..In one word - Selfishness!!!…Love requires one to give not take and when we are not willing to give of ourself FULLY to our spouse…Our marriage will become wounded….Saying what I just said is easy…Doing it is hard…To become a selfless person is no small task for anyone….God knew that and that is why he made marriage a Sacrament….When we live out our marriage Sacramentally, we receive the necessary grace to become more and more selfless each and every day…..This like anything else in life is a process, it does not happen over night….The greatest act of love a man and woman can give to each other is the total and complete gift of self…..But because we are ALL fallen by our human nature…This is a difficult ask…And God knew that from the beginning…That is why he gave us a Church, which in turn gives us the Sacraments….Which in turn we are given the needed grace……Those who have ears…Let them hear!

“If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.”

Getting back to the Gospel of St Mark from Mass today….God created men and women and he also created marriage….Marriage has a purpose…Marriage is a vocation…..St Francis gives us some insight into how one has a successful marriage….”For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”…..In a Catholic marriage the couple die to themselves……And in dying to one self….One finds Christ…..The man’s job is to help his wife in that process and the woman’s job is to help her husband in that process…..And its God’s job to help both of them….This is no small task…..Everything that is good in life that we pursue must have a goal…And the “goal” for a healthy and fruitful marriage is heaven……"This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”…..Marriage is a Sacrament…What is the goal of your marriage?