Puritans called marriage "the little church within
the Church," a place to test and also develop spiritual character. Every day marriage calls both partners to
love and forgive and stay faithful -- hard work that only makes sense if we are
convinced somehow that we are participating in a kind of alternate history, one
set in eternity. I persevere in the difficult times in my marriage for the same
reason I persevere in the difficult times in my faith: because I believe that both touch something
of eternal significance.
For most of us, it takes years, perhaps a lifetime, to
realize what unity with another person means.
We learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, and work out
power-sharing. We learn when to probe
and when to back off, when to soothe and when to challenge. Gradually, as two independent people share a
common reality, a kind of transfiguration takes place. A "second love" emerges.
-- Philip Yancy in Rumors of Another World
#3005
Thursday, June 7, 2012
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Back in the 1590s and early 1600s, there was an Italian Jesuit theologian, Robert Bellarmine, who was a powerful preacher and teacher much admired by both Catholics and Protestants. Bellarmine was the first theologian to say that "a married couple is the Church in miniature," that it is their call to witness the love and forgiveness of Christ in their married life. He later became a Cardinal. After his death the Catholic Church proclaimed him "Doctor of the Church." He was canonized saint in 1932.
ReplyDeleteChaplain Mike Murphy, WI