Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

The Church Sustains Us

The election of Pope Francis earlier this year was exciting. I was sad to see Pope Benedict retire, but there was a magnetism about Catholicism. All of the media and blogs were talking about the Church again.

While watching Pope Francis be introduced to the world and give his Apostolic Blessing, it hit me. We are so incredibly lucky to be a part of this Church. We are so lucky to have this Church that sustains us. Then again, luck has nothing to do with it.

Marriage is difficult because we are fighting on all fronts. We are fighting against our own selfish desires. We are fighting against the desires of the world. We are fighting to continually put our spouse before ourselves.

I believe that, as Catholics, we have the best chance of sustaining our marriages. Our chances are substantially better because we have the Church behind us. We are married through a Sacrament. Through that Sacrament, we seal a covenant. 

We have access to all of the best resources. We have the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist to reconcile ourselves to God when we fail. We have the constant flow of graces from the Sacrament of Matrimony. We have access to the Treasury of Graces to sustain us.

As a married person, when we sin, we hurt three groups. We first hurt God, who loves us completely. We hurt the Body of Christ, the Christian Community, because we are a part of that community. We lastly hurt our spouse, as they are one with us. The results of our sin are far reaching.

Thankfully, we have the benefit of the Church to set things right. We are able to fix our fallen selves so that we can then fix our marriage. When we commit sin, we weaken charity. Through Reconciliation, we strengthen our charity and our marriage benefits.

We are part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are a part of this Universal Church that was put in place for our benefit. Christ knew that we’d need help. He knew that the Catholic Church was the perfect solution to our problems.

Take a moment today and reflect, thanking God that you are a part of His Church.