❀ ❁ January 11th ❀ ❁
Before consummating their marriage, Tobias leads Sarah to prayer. Granted, this was under the instructions of the angel Raphael to keep Asmodeus from killing Tobias and rendering Sarah a widow for the eighth time. However, the act of a couple praying before this act is a strong lesson to us.
As followers of Christ, we often pray for our needs and the needs of others. We pray for help with relationships and with job; we pray for healing and for safely. How often do we pray and ask for His help in the area of love?
It is no small thing that Tobias calls his bride "sister." He understands he has shouldered the task of caring for a daughter God. He must treat her with the respect and care due to her. He does not force her. He is not impatient with her. He places the Almighty in charge of their marriage and even their sexuality from the start.
In the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, Blessed Pope John Paul II states that married love is "an act of the free will, whose trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life, but also to grow, so that husband and wife become in a way one heart and one soul, and together attain their human fulfillment."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "[c]hastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person." This can only be accomplished by recognizing God as the creator of not only ourselves but of our sexuality. As with everything else in our lives, we must hand this over to Him.
As followers of Christ, we often pray for our needs and the needs of others. We pray for help with relationships and with job; we pray for healing and for safely. How often do we pray and ask for His help in the area of love?
It is no small thing that Tobias calls his bride "sister." He understands he has shouldered the task of caring for a daughter God. He must treat her with the respect and care due to her. He does not force her. He is not impatient with her. He places the Almighty in charge of their marriage and even their sexuality from the start.
In the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, Blessed Pope John Paul II states that married love is "an act of the free will, whose trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life, but also to grow, so that husband and wife become in a way one heart and one soul, and together attain their human fulfillment."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "[c]hastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person." This can only be accomplished by recognizing God as the creator of not only ourselves but of our sexuality. As with everything else in our lives, we must hand this over to Him.
Pray for grace to bring God in control of your sexuality. Begin to pray before romantic dates or before each marital act. Ask Him to show you where you should improve as a single woman, or in the vocation of being a wife. Ask Him to place strong, obvious obstacles between you and sin in this area.
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