THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

In some communities many couples live together without getting married. When a person becomes a Christian he will want to legalize his marriage. In this way, he has a better testimony in the community, he gives protection of the laws of the land to his family, and he honors Christ.

God's Word is very strong against any kind of sexual relation outside of marriage. He strictly prohibits any flirtation or illicit love affair by either marriage partner with another person. One of the great blessings of a Christian home is the fact that husband and wife can trust each other when they know that each is faithful to the other in thought, word, and deed. As they serve the Lord together, it becomes a "little bit of heaven," free from the deception, suspicion, jealousy, and unfaithfulness that wreck so many homes.

MARRIAGE, A GENUINE VOCATION

Had the visit of a young engaged couple. Later I found myself engaging in a serious discussion about keys to successful married life and how we should value the institution of marriage. In fact, with more couples waiting longer to marry or living together first, many seem to be considering the decision more carefully.

It is sad that a good number of people end in marriage not really because they look at it as a real vocation wherein it is possible to live up to the measure of love Jesus proposed, but more out of desire to possess the person loved, or worse because of convenience or because they have no choice any longer.

Yes, marriage is genuine vocation to which young couples have to give considerable thought and period of preparation. It is ever easy to say, "I love you," and "I do," but it takes more than just human capacities to be able to translate these words into a lifetime commitment.

There are those who choose to forego marriage and commit themselves perhaps to the noble profession they exercise, or even just to the task of helping parents, brothers and sisters and trying to lift them up from a life of privation. At times they go though extreme sacrifices only to feel as if shackled by the seemingly unending and growing demands from them. At times they even feel they are doing a thankless job. These persons are the like the seeds in the Gospel, which have to die in order to give life to the plant.

And there are those who, feeling they are called to the religious or priestly life, take seriously the thought that their vocation is to singularly live Jesus' ideal of love: to lay down their lives for their friends. When one tries to live such an ideal, he will find very real obstacles too; obstacles from outside, like times when he comes to discover how precious really are the things he has renounced. It takes some heroism to live such a life.

Jesus' measure of real greatness isn't that simple and easy. Strangely though, within the folds of a life of giving there is so much joy.