Reflection on January 5, 1983

https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/jp2tb103.htm

I was thinking about the words said during the wedding ceremony, the vows that husbands and wives say to each other. They are a witness, are a visible sign to all those that are at the ceremony. Sacraments are visible sign of God’s Grace, here, these vows show those gathered what God’s grace is bringing, what they are choosing, what this call has lead them to. As a married couple continues to live these vows out in their daily lives, they continue to be a sign, a visible sign, of God’s Grace in the world. Although that might seem obvious, after going through SJPII’s discourses on what marriage means to our understanding of God’s relationship with us and what He has in mind for us and what marriage is meant to teach us, marriage is such a bigger sign, or sacrament, to the world than I ever realized.

I was thinking that the vows that a married couple say to each other could and should be a prayer that they continue to pray after their marriage. The conjugal act is a renewal of that commitment, but couples should be encouraged to pray those vows as a renewal and remember the promises they made. To go even further, the vows said by the couple could be a prayer for those that are single. In the talks on the indissolubility of marriage, we also looked at how that applies to pre-marriage. Praying the vows before marriage, at an age of rationality, establishes that commitment to your future spouse, adds to the respect a person will have for the marriage vocation and an understanding of what that commitment will be.