12 tips on strengthening your marriage from Romans 12:

1. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

At the end of the first five days in the creation account, Scripture reports, “And God saw that it was good” (Gen 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25). However after creating Adam and Eve and giving them to each other in marriage, Scripture tells us, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen 1:31 emphasis added). In Malachi, God says, “I hate divorce” (Mal 2:16). God hates divorce and says marriage is very good. Paul exhorted the early Christians in Rome to “hate what is evil” and to “cling to what is good.” Be like the heavenly Father in hating divorce and clinging to your marriage, which is very good.

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Christopher West is a world renowned teacher of John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” – a bold, biblical vision of love and sexuality. As Founder and President of The Cor Project (“cor” is Latin for heart), Christopher leads an international outreach devoted to disseminating this liberating teaching and empowering others to live and share it.

In 2004 Christopher co-founded the Theology of the Body Institute which spreads the life-giving message of Theology of the Body through graduate level courses, on-site speaker programs and clergy enrichment training. The Theology of the Body Institute seeks to penetrate and permeate the culture with a vision of true sexuality that appeals to the deepest yearnings of the human heart for love and union.

With permission, we share one of Christopher’s recent blog posts on Pope Francis’ encyclical, Amoris Laetitia.

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Last week, we discussed Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, a beautiful and thought-provoking meditation on the state of the family and marriage in the modern world. Chapter 8, “Accompanying, Discerning and Integrating Weakness,” has been the most discussed (and controversial) section of this exhortation. In it, the Pope discusses appropriate pastoral approaches to those who are divorced and remarried. It must be noted that this chapter does not change long-held Church teaching on the permanence of marriage but is meant to assist pastors and lay ministers in accompanying those in irregular marriages back into full communion with the Church.

Sadly, nowhere does this exhortation mention the faithful husbands and wives who are the innocent victims of divorce. Many spouses, although civilly divorced, honor their marriage vows until “death separates” (cf. Rom 7:2-3). These spouses are not interested in pursuing annulments; they pray that God in His mercy will heal their broken relationships.

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This past Friday, April 8, 2016, the Vatican released Pope Francis’ post-synod Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love). This document is a beautiful and thought-provoking meditation on the state of the family and marriage in the modern world. It treats marriage as a joyful and beautiful gift.

The document is 256 pages long, the longest Apostolic Exhortation in the history of the Church. It provides much needed encouragement at a time when marriage is in crisis. As St. John Paul II prophetically said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.”[1]

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In this post, Dennis shares how mercy was key in healing his first marriage.

The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16

Paul in his first letter to Timothy says that he was the worst of sinners. Rightly so because Paul was a devout Jew who was persecuting and murdering Christians for what he believed was blasphemy against God. Paul’s life was totally changed by his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-19). Jesus in his infinite mercy called Paul to be his chosen instrument to carry the Gospel message of His saving passion to the Gentiles. If Christ could show mercy to a murderer and use him to further His kingdom, should we not also share in Christ’s mission of divine mercy?

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As we celebrate Easter and anticipate the feast of Divine Mercy, it is worthwhile to reflect on the role of mercy in marriage. Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, the Preacher to the Papal Household says that people get married because of love, but when difficulties arise, mercy enables them to love sacrificially. He explains how this happens in the following excerpt from his Good Friday Homily,

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Lectio Divina, literally meaning “divine reading,” is an ancient practice of praying the Scriptures. During Lectio Divina, the practitioner listens to the text of the Bible with the “ear of the heart,” as if he or she is in conversation with God, and God is suggesting the topics for discussion. The method of Lectio Divina includes moments of reading (lectio), reflecting on (meditatio), responding to (oratio) and resting in (contemplatio) the Word of God with the aim of nourishing and deepening one’s relationship with God. Typical questions are: What gift does this passage lead me to ask from the Lord? or, What does this passage call me to do?

Read the passage aloud as a couple, then take some extended silence for each of you to savor what you have heard, particularly noting whether any word or phrase became a special focus of attention. Then share with each other what God has shown you in the passage.

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Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa is the preacher of the Pontifical Household. In a recent homily, he reflected on Gaudium et spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. He says that this document addresses many social issues; the most relevant and problematic is marriage and family.

Fr. Cantalamessa begins by looking at marriage and family in the divine plan of God. The book of Genesis offers two distinct accounts of creation: the man and woman being created simultaneously in the image of God (Gen 1:26-28) and in the most ancient, the woman is taken from the side of the man (Gen 2:18-25).

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Dennis and Rose were both widowed. The story of God’s love for them after the death of their spouses was shared on the “Calling Couples to Christ” blog a few months ago.

This is Dennis’ story of his marriage to his first wife, Therese…

After 10 years of marriage, my wife wanted out. She sought and was granted a civil divorce. I knew that God expected me to honor my marriage vows until death separated (cf. Rom 7:2). Marriage is a covenant between husband, wife and God. Even if one spouse ignores the marriage vows, God honors the covenant. He expects husbands and wives to do the same. I believed what God said about marriage and I knew that I had to honor my part of the covenant. I knew that if God had called me to the vocation of marriage, I could depend on Him to provide me with the grace to do so. I knew that God would lead me through the desert of divorce to the Promised Land of a restored marriage. If I was to enter that Promised Land, I had to walk in faith with God to possess it.

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