English
EspañolIt is deceitful to propose cheap, lukewarm, and measly “love affairs” to young people. Good and true love is possible, but it requires much effort. Of course, it demands that we prune ourselves of rotten roots and branches.
Text
“In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur: “Young people who are baptized should be encouraged to understand that the sacrament of marriage can enrich their prospects of love and that they can be sustained by the grace of Christ in the sacrament and by the possibility of participating fully in the life of the Church.” A lukewarm attitude, any kind of relativism, or an undue reticence in proposing that ideal, would be a lack of fidelity to the Gospel and also of love on the part of the Church for young people themselves. To show understanding in the face of exceptional situations never implies dimming the light of the fuller ideal, or proposing less than what Jesus offers to the human being. Today, more important than the pastoral care of failures is the pastoral effort to strengthen marriages and thus to prevent their breakdown.” (The Joy of Love, n.307)
Commentary
It is a common experience that young people make many efforts and even sacrifices to prepare themselves for their professional goals. They do not do the same with their marriage and family project. These will be the most crucial part of their life.
In order to exercise one’s profession (which will take up a certain amount of time), one prepares for about six years; common sense tells us that in order to form a marriage and family (which will last a lifetime), one should not tread lightly and superficially, but prepare oneself with more time and intensity.
If you are a father or mother, if you are an educator, help young people educate themselves to love their future families truly. It is the best inheritance you can leave them.
If you are a young person, seriously educate yourself for that marvelous adventure that is to share your life intimately with another person and with the children that will be entrusted to you.
It is wise to give importance to what is essential. And it is foolish to put what is worth little or nothing in the first place.
