Simple Holiness

Every Catholic marriage has moments when spouses find themselves facing challenges they did not anticipate.

Last winter, with all the terrible ice and snow, I fell and broke my arm. While I was waiting for surgery, I slept in a recliner in the family room so I would not accidentally roll over on my arm. Throughout that week, I found myself waking up during the night and turning on EWTN programming.

This article has been on my heart to write for months, but I have been reluctant write it, due to the topic's sensitive nature. I would like to address fidelity in Catholic marriages.

We have all been to weddings and heard St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, which states, “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated. Love is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 

Married couples, not uncommonly, see a counselor or therapist because negativity has developed in the marriage, persistently creating unhappiness for the couple.

Perhaps the most important gift you can give your spouse this Christmas will be your devotion and renewed commitment to engaging in your marriage in the same heartfelt way when you first married.

As I wrote this column, the synod on synodality at the Vatican had not begun. When you read this, however, it will have concluded, and the information provided by the gathering in Rome will be shared and propagated. Without a doubt, we are living in a time of change.

October is one of two months in the year dedicated to honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states “by her complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of faith and charity” (967).