The Pope Said WHAT About Marriage?!? Here’s the Surprising Truth About the Catholic Vision of Love.

On More2Life Radio, Lisa and I often remind our listeners that “God wants to change the world through your marriage!”  In fact, the other day on the blog, I did a post titled, “Want to bring the world to Christ?  Strengthen Your Marriage!”

Yesterday, in his weekly Wednesday address, Pope Francis took up this very theme…

Pope Francis also reflected on another characteristic of marriage: the choice to “marry in the Lord.” This decision, he said, carries with it a “missionary dimension,” through the willingness to be a channel of God’s grace and blessings for everyone.

Christian spouses are participants in the Church’s mission, the Pope said, insofar as they live for all people, not just for themselves.

Pope Francis challenged the faithful to ask themselves whether they – as believers and pastors – accept the “unbreakable bond” between Christ and the Church, and the history of marriage and family.

“Are we prepared to seriously accept this responsibility, which is that every marriage follows the path of love which Christ has with the Church?” he asked.  READ MORE HERE

As I mentioned in my post the other day on this very topic, one of the most important ways you can evangelize the world is by working on your relationship with each other.

We live in a world where people struggle to believe in the free, total, faithful and fruitful love that the Church tell us is our right; the kind of love that springs from God’s own heart.  They don’t need to be told that such a love exists.  They need to see it in action.  They need to experience it.  That can only happen if we Catholics rediscover the fact that marriage and family life is, in fact, it’s own activity that requires a regular, daily and weekly, investment of time and effort.  A marriage isn’t something we “have.”  It is an activity we do.  And if we aren’t making regular time for working, praying, talking, and playing together everyday then not only are we short-changing ourselves and our spouses of the intimacy we have a God-given right to expect from marriage, we are failing in our mission as married couples to be witnesses to the world that marital love is worth making time for.  And I don’t just mean date nights.  Date nights are fine, but if you aren’t making at least 5-10 minutes a day to do something to work, play, talk, and pray together then date nights are going to be dud nights as you sit there staring at each other wondering what to say because you have no shared married life to speak of.   We can do better.  The Holy Father is challenging us to do better.

What can you do–TODAY–to give your marriage the time and effort it needs to be the kind of relationship God can use to change the world?   For more ideas about what you can do to take up Pope Francis’ call to action, check out these marriage-building resources or contact the Pastoral Solutions Institute to learn more about our tele-counseling practice.  You and your spouse can be the loving witness you were meant to be.