Happy National Respect Life Month! If there’s any assembly in the world ready to stand for life from conception to natural death, it’s Catholics. We share articles, pray before clinics, and organize events for the noblest of causes. It’s an uphill battle going against societal norms, but one that must be taken on by courageous souls.
Few may recognize, however, that a pro-life cause quite near and dear requires equal bravery, though of a different nature. I’ve lately realized the importance of openness to life not just within our cities and states, but more specifically within our homes and especially within our marriages. What happens within the family will spread to the world, and what happens in the family starts with the marriage. It takes just two.
In my short six years as a wife, I’ve learned and observed enough to know that marriage calls for a constant effort of communication, compromise and sacrifice from us both. Currently, Andrew and I are adjusting to a new career, juggling three little boys, and anticipating the imminent arrival of our baby girl. Lately it feels like we hardly see each other because of how much life demands; and there are couples far, far busier than us.
Regardless of what the ins and outs of family life look like for any of us, spouses are easily reduced to casual roommates in a whirlwind of busyness. Andrew joked that sometimes it feels like we’re running a non-profit because our interactions are so often task-oriented that we fail to really see the personhood of the other; really see into the other’s core. Despite being a common issue, blindness to the personhood of our spouses can develop into a harmful malady in the home; when we don’t recognize the depth of our spouses’ spiritual, emotional and physical needs, they become easy to disregard and disrespect. Keep your eyes and hearts open to life in your marriage with the following:
1) Pray. Pray for him. Pray for her. Pray for yourself. Pray together. Pray apart. Pray in secret or let them know. A marriage laced with prayer will thrive in joy and be upheld in trials. No need to be too complex – sometimes a simple “God bless Andrew and Mary protect him” suffices, and other times Andrew offers larger sacrifices for me, fasting and offering the day’s trials for my benefit. There is no support like prayer.
Continue reading #2 & #3 here!
Home feature photo – Andrew and me on Easter Sunday 2012
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