Marriage: love´s light

Commentary

The task of Christians resembles that of a field hospital. The Church, like a mother, is more attentive to her children who need her the most; those who are weak, those who are sick, to give them encouragement and the medicine of hope. She is attentive to those lost on the road to accompany them through the night until the light of dawn.

The Church directs a hopeful glaze toward those situations that do not correspond to her teaching on marriage. She does not abandon them; she accompanies them, as a doctor accompanies his patients, or better yet, as a mother who tends to her badly wounded children or those in misfortune. He who loves has a particular gaze: his hope allows him to see in advance a future in which his beloved improves.

Let me tell you about a case I witnessed. Marisa and Walter got married in a civil ceremony; they wanted it to be done quickly and cheaply. Walter had been hired to work in another city and would relocate immediately. They justified their actions, to their respective families, by explaining that they did not have enough money to pay for the expenses of a religious wedding and the party afterward; however, as soon as they had saved the necessary money they would do it.

Five years have passed and they already have two children. There were always reasons to postpone the religious marriage: the arrival of the first child, then the second, school fees, supplies, among others. Nevertheless, Marisa and Walter have not stopped attending Mass at the parish where they live during this time. Don Gonzalo is the parish priest, he knows them and has sympathized with them. He has embraced them with great affection and they consider him family. He has baptized their children and sometimes they invite him home for dinner. Little by little Don Gonzalo has been making them see what a great help it is for them and their children that their union be also a sacrament. That Jesus Christ himself, with his graces, be an intimate accomplice of their union, transforming it into a path of redemption and holiness. May they not think of a festive and expensive celebration but instead uniting before God. Marisa and Walter are now distributing the invitations for their religious wedding, which will be held in three months with a celebration party, albeit a small one. That part no longer worries them because they have understood the meaning of the sacrament: the graces and the company of Jesus Christ with them.