Tips to Help Your Marriage

Complete Joy
Beatitudes of Marriage
The Goods of Marriage - St. Augustine

Complete Joy!

Many married couples, after the honeymoon is over, struggle with the joys of their relationship. They do not know where to turn in order to keep the joy alive. Very often, they turn to entertainment (movies, sports, etc.) to pass the time until a new spark of joy or romance comes their way. Jesus said, “Live on in my love and my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.” Complete joy sounds great! Who wants partial joy? Married couples who remain in the love of Christ through constant prayer, reflection on Scripture, regular attendance at Sunday Mass, and a healthy conjugal spirituality have complete joy. Moreover, they don’t contain that joy within the confines of their home. They share it. St. Rose of Lima parish is blessed with many married couples who find joy in the love of Christ and wish to share that joy with their parish and neighbors. If you would like to take your marriage to the next level and see that it was intended to be a ministry of joy and charity in the Church, please visit a priest, sister, or deacon in our parish. We would love to help you minister to God’s people through your Sacrament of Matrimony.

BEATITUDES OF MARRIAGE

Blessed are the husband and wife who continue to be affectionate, considerate, and loving after the wedding bells have ceased ringing.

Blessed are the husband and wife who are as polite and courteous to one another as they are to their friends.

Blessed are they who love their mates more than any other person in the world, and who joyfully fulfill their marriage vow of a lifetime of fidelity and mutual helpfulness to one another.

Blessed are they who attain parenthood, for children are a heritage of the Lord.

Blessed are they who remember to thank God for their food before they partake of it, and who set apart some time each day for the reading of the Bible and for prayer.

Blessed are those mates who never speak loudly to one another, and who make their home a place “where seldom is heard a discouraging word.”

Blessed are the husband and wife who faithfully attend the worship service of the church, and who work together in the church for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.

Blessed are the husband and wife who can work out the problems of adjustment without interference from relatives.

Blessed is the couple which has complete understanding about financial matters, and have worked out a perfect partnership, with all money under the control of both.

Blessed are the husband and wife who humbly dedicate their lives and their homes to Christ, and who practice the teachings of Christ in the home by being unselfish, loyal and loving.

Author Unknown

 

The Goods of Marriage

The concept of the Goods of Marriage come to us from St. Augustine, the fifth century North African bishop and doctor of the Church, who identified as the three essential elements of the marital relationship procreation, fidelity, and lifelong unity.

The Catholic Church continues to proclaim these "goods" of marriage as virtues to be lived out by those willing to embrace the ministry of Christian Marriage.

Married couples who desire to be procreators with God are open to the possibility of God's gift of children. They hear the words of Scripture:"Be fruitfull and multiply." Even those who are unable to have children can be "pro-creators" by choosing to adopt children or agreeing to assist disadvantaged children through education, financial assitance, and prayer.

The Good of Fidelity is the promise that couples make to remain faithful to God as husband and wife and, if God should give them children, as parents. Husbands and wives must witness to their faith by what they say and do. They should communicate to God through daily prayer. Fidelity to God and the desire to pass on their faith to their children and/or others around them is a couples' Christian response to God's fidelity to them.

The Good of Life Long Unity is a response to God's promise to be united to us forever. Married couples recognize that their union with each other, in good times and in bad, is a mirror immage of God's communion with us. By living a life unity, a Christian couple acts as an icon - a living image - of God's endless love for us in Jesus.