Happy Anniversary to Us ~ 12.30.11

"I shall never tire of repeating that marriage is a great and marvelous divine path. Like everything divine in us, it calls for response to grace, generosity, dedication and service." 

~St. Josemaria Escriva

our love story is here

in case you've never heard it and want to read a short love story that will make you believe in love at first site

Today is our wedding anniversary- truly the week between Christmas and New Year's is a crazy time to get married, however, my parents' anniversary is the 27th and I thought it would be awesome.

And it was.

The church was already decorated and we were getting married in the Jubillee year, the year 2000, and we were praying for some amazing Jubilee year graces.

In these past 11 years, God has truly graced our marriage in many ways. First and foremost, with the gift of each other. Marriage is certainly not always a walk in the park- and God knows that! He's made a way for us to receive abundant graces for this journey through the sacramental bond we undertook on December 30, 2000! And continues to grace us each time we share in the Eucharist on Sundays and at daily mass. We are truly blessed beyond measure!

And he has graced us with opportunities beyond our wildest imagination to grow in love, patienece, kindness, joy, long-suffering, etc, etc. He gave us 4 children so far (and the next one's arrival is imminent!) and they have shared God's love with us and taught us what it means to love unconditionally. We are truly blessed beyond measure.

So on this, our 11th anniversary of the day we married one another- I'll share this meditation from an amazing Saint whom I've mentioned countless times before, on my blog... St. Josemaria Escriva.


“The value God places on marriage”

In the middle of the rejoicing at the feast in Cana, only Mary notices that they are short of wine. A soul will notice even the smallest details of service if, like her, it is alive with a passion for helping its neighbour, for God. (Furrow, 631)

The pure and noble love of husband and wife is a sacred thing. As a priest, I bless it with all my heart. Christian tradition has often seen in Christ’s presence at the wedding feast in Cana a proof of the value God places on marriage. “Our Saviour went to the wedding feast,” writes St Cyril of Alexandria, “to make holy the origins of human life” [1].

Marriage is a sacrament that makes one flesh of two bodies. Theology expresses this fact in a striking way when it teaches us that the matter of the sacrament is the bodies of husband and wife. Our Lord sanctifies and blesses the mutual love of husband and wife. He foresees, not only a union of souls, but a union of bodies as well. No Christian, whether or not he is called to the married state, has a right to underestimate the value of marriage.

We have been created by God and endowed with an intelligence which is like a spark of the divine intellect. Together with our free will, another gift of God, it allows us to know and to love. And God has also placed in our body the power to generate, which is a participation in his own creative power. He has wanted to use love to bring new human beings into the world and to increase the body of the Church. Thus, sex is not a shameful thing; it is a divine gift, ordained to life, to love, to fruitfulness.(Christ is passing by, 24)

Let us pray together for one another....

May St. Joseph—“a just man,” a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care—always guard, protect, and enlighten families.

May the Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of the Church, also be the Mother of “the Church of the home.” Thanks to her motherly aid, may each Christian family really become a “little church” in which the mystery of the Church of Christ is mirrored and given new life.

May Christ the Lord, the Universal King, the King of Families, be present in every Christian home as he was at Cana, bestowing light, joy, serenity, and strength.

We entrust (our) family to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

-JPII, Familiaris Consortio

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

Colossians 3:12-17