Posted by Dennis and Rose Wingfield | Filed under Family, Marriage
Cultivate Fruit in Your Marriage
02 Friday Mar 2018
Category Archives: Marriage
Marriage: The Need and Our Passion
25 Sunday Feb 2018
The well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and family.[1]
Pope Paul VI issued this prophetic message in the Vatican II document, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), on December 7, 1965. At a time when the world was fraught with rapid change and traditional values were being questioned, and often jettisoned as being “old fashioned,” the Church offered its service to guide humanity to true meaning and happiness. Divorce was rapidly rising, children born out of wedlock were increasing and traditional family life and moral values were under attack. More than 50 years later the assault on families has escalated, leaving broken children and parents in its wake.
Married Love: A Foretaste of Heaven
22 Thursday Feb 2018
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Have you ever thought of your marriage as a foretaste of heaven? When marriage is lived as God intended – with permanence, partnership, fidelity, and fruitfulness – your marriage is the image of the love that unites the three persons in the Holy Trinity.
Pope Benedict XVI offered high praise for the family in one of his audiences. Here is what he had to say about the gift of marriage and family:
Marriage: Radiating the Love of Christ to the World – Part II
18 Sunday Feb 2018
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Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, Catholic, Humanae Vitae, married love, procreative, self-gift, The Splendor of Love, unitive
Last week we introduced Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila’s pastoral letter The Splendor of Love, written in honor of the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. His purpose in writing the pastoral letter was “to affirm the great beauty of the Church’s consistent teaching through the centuries on married love, a love that is so desperately needed today” (SL, 5).
This week, we will continue looking into Archbishop Aquila’s pastoral letter by delving into the goodness of sexuality and how couples can proclaim the splendor of God’s love in their marriages and families.
Marriage: Radiating the Love of Christ to the World
11 Sunday Feb 2018
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Blessed Pope Paul VI’s visionary letter Humanae Vitae, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver has issued a pastoral letter The Splendor of Love. Archbishop Aquila states that Blessed Paul VI “prophetically defended the integrity of married love and warned us against the danger of reducing sexuality to a source of pleasure alone” (SL, 1).
Archbishop Aquila states that his purpose in writing the pastoral letter is “to affirm the great beauty of the Church’s consistent teaching through the centuries on married love, a love that is so desperately needed today” (SL, 5). He goes on to say:
The family is the foundation of society, and when it is undermined, society itself is threatened with collapse. Therefore, it is crucial to reaffirm our commitment to the truth, goodness, and beauty of Christ’s teaching on marriage and sexuality. SL, 6
How to Live Out the Four Goods in Your Marriage
04 Sunday Feb 2018
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Christ, fidelity, forgive, friendship, fruitfulness, grace, intimacy, Jesus, love, partnership, permanence, sacrifice, trust
Last week we learned about the four goods of marriage and how they are woven into the very fabric of the vows that are part of the Marriage Rite of the Catholic Church. The wedding vows speak of: partnership, permanence, fidelity, and fruitfulness.
This week, we will show you how to live out the four goods in your marriage.
In marriage there are two people wounded by Original Sin with a natural bent to selfishness, who join their lives together for life. There will be struggles, hardships, disagreements, strife, and heartache. But the good news is that Jesus died on the cross to save us from sin and give us the grace we need to live out the four goods of marriage.
The Four Goods of Marriage
28 Sunday Jan 2018
Creation of Eve, Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, c. 1510-1511
If we asked, “What are the four goods of marriage?” would you know the answer? Did you learn about them in your marriage preparation? Have you ever heard a homily on the topic? If you are curious to know what the Church teaches on the goods of marriage, please read on.
Families: Pray Together
21 Sunday Jan 2018
Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “The family that prays together stays together.” Did you know the phrase was coined in the 1940s by Father Patrick Peyton a Catholic media pioneer? Known as “The Rosary Priest,” Father Peyton used radio, television, and billboards to promote family prayer, especially praying the Holy Rosary.
I Thirst for You
14 Sunday Jan 2018
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20
The following is a meditation by St. Teresa of Calcutta on the above passage from the book of Revelation. May you encounter the living God, come down from heaven, Jesus Christ, in her words. He is the lover of your soul.
Manifestation of the Lord
07 Sunday Jan 2018
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Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Evangelization, grace, Jesus, Joy of the Gospel, prayer, salvation, Unleash the Gospel, virtue
Adoration of the Magi
Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.”…and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11 (emphasis added)
“The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 528). The joy of the Magi upon seeing the Child is the joy of the Gospel. It is “the joy of one whose heart has received a ray of God’s light and who can now see that his hope has been realized—the joy of one who has found what he sought, and has himself been found” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, 106). The Magi find “crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky…in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars” (St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 150).
Calling Couples to Christ 