English
EspañolThe sacrament of marriage is not exhausted in the celebration but remains throughout life. Jesus is not only a guest on the wedding day. He accompanies the spouses in person, with his special graces, as their best and most powerful accomplice throughout their lives.
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“They need to be encouraged to see the sacrament not as a single moment that then becomes a part of the past and its memories, but rather as a reality that permanently influences the whole of married life.” (The Joy of Love, n.215)
Commentary
Karina and Juan Carlos are about to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. Karina’s family and friends wonder how she has been able to “put up with him,” how she knows how to handle him so well, with a deft touch. One of them, Luciana, explains: “Juan Carlos is conceited. He is a good friend, loyal, a joker, but who can stand him? When he comes home, he wants Karina to be with him. When he reads, when he watches TV, the same thing. He does not like to have breakfast or dinner alone; he wants Karina to be with him. And not to mention when he is sick: Karina practically cannot leave his side. However, Karina is smart; she knows him very well, she knows when and how to tell him what must be said. Although Karina spoils him with all the compliments, she is the one who makes the important decisions in his house. Yes…, what she decides is done, or rather, what the two of them decide at Karina’s behest. I do not know how she convinces him.”
What does Karina say about these comments? Well, she says the following: “These 25 years of marriage have been very happy. I think I owe it to the “sacrament.” What do I mean by that enigmatic word? Well, I believed, and still believe – a bit more each day due to the accumulated experience – that Jesus Christ accompanies us very closely, as an intimate accomplice; a friend with enormous power to unite us, with very varied and even amusing graces. He is – so I feel – like a tender light within our marriage.
He inspires us every day so that what is difficult, different, and disharmonious between Juan Carlos and I is lessened and alleviated, not dramatized in discord, or we see it in another light, with affection, tenderness, less stubbornness, and much sense of humor, not giving it so much importance. Furthermore, that afterward, hours or days later, we can both joke about the difficulties, the limitations and defects we have, and how we love each other despite everything”.
