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In the beginning, God created Eve from the side of Adam. This expresses a nuptial meaning; God is the creator of man and marriage…
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. Gen 2:21-24
Note the marital context of the last sentence. The nuptial binding of man and woman as husband and wife is a three step process:
Our family has a great affinity for Nativity scenes. We collect them, display them and enjoy looking at Nativity scenes from countries around the world. The variety of styles are fascinating and intriguing yet their message is the same, “a savior has been born…who is Messiah and Lord” (Lk 2:11). It has been our custom that the manger remains empty until the dark hours of Christmas Eve. Our family gathers around the crèche as Jesus is placed lovingly in the manger with reverence and awe. Traditionally, Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus is then read (Lk 2:1-20) or the birth of Emmanuel (Is 7:10-14), followed by a prayer of blessing such as this:
There is a dire need for couples to build relationships with other spiritually like-minded couples. The culture is attacking family life and it is important to encourage each other in living marriage faithfully and fruitfully. To foster those relationships, consider hosting a couple group study in your home. You could study Scripture, Church documents on marriage and family, theology of the body or books on how to improve your marital relationship.
