When you marry, your "Yes." to your spouse must be total and unconditional.
Your marriage "Yes," must be a "Yes" to everything you know of the other and a "Yes" to everything you do not know of the other.
Your marriage "Yes." must be a "Yes" to the other's past, his or her present and his or her future, for all of these is what the other is; all of these are included in the name of the other.
Your marriage "Yes" must be a wholehearted loving "Yes" to everything you can see in your spouse and a "Yes" to everything you cannot see in him or her.
The World
We Were Born Into.
8.1 Satan's Garden of Eden.
Because mankind has turned from God, society now suffers from blindness and violence in a world that now worships money as its god. Regardless of how it tries to portray itself, the world has its own rules for success- for having lots of money. These include lying, cheating, deceiving, stealing, terrorizing, abusing, torturing, murdering, destroying, warring and killing, to name but a few. Sickness, famine, pestilence, poverty, prostitution, loneliness, isolation, despair, discouragement, pollution and so on are its byproducts. Saint Peter describes it very simply as a world "sunk in vice." (1) In such a world all paths lead to suicide- spiritual, emotional mental and physical suicide.
In trying to protect itself from all this violence and suffering, society legislates more laws. It writes more rules. It manufactures more weapons. It hires more police. It builds more jails and more hospitals. What it has not done is to assemble before God, repent and do penance for its sins.
8.2 Man's creation.
This is the world you, your spouse and your children were born into. It is a world filled with: abortion, adultery, avarice, beatings, blame, confusion, crime, darkness, deception, drive-by shootings, drugs, fornication, fraud, greed, hate, indecency, kidnappings, lies, murder, poverty, prostitution, rape, robbery, sexual abuse, slavery, starvation, war and so on to name but a few of the curses that afflict us for leaving our God to worship false idols.
8.3 BUT- THIS IS ALSO THE WORLD WHERE JESUS OF NAZARETH, GOD'S SON- WAS BORN INTO.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
8.4 Your spouse's plea.
"Hold me my Beloved. Do you now see where I was born? My eyes are covered with a veil of darkness and my vision is blurred. I have great difficulty in finding my way. Confused, I have taken many wrong paths. I am troubled living in this strange world.
Within me is the seed of denial to my Lord, He who brought me forth and gave me life. Dearest, I feel so helpless in this land of terror. Would you abuse me also because I was born here? Are you truly my friend? Can you understand who I am and where I come from?
Dearest, walk at my side and help me with the healing I need. Refresh my assailed heart with your compassion. Beloved, as poor and weak and feeble as I am, I have given all of what I have to you. Please do not make me your slave as well.
My dearest darling, will you fault me for my limitations when the God I have failed does not? My Beloved, will you fault me for not seeing to your needs when in my blindness I do not even see my Creator? I am so weak, confused, living in this violent land.
Beloved, I have given my all to you. I left all others to be with you. Do not abandon me. Do not let me wander in the darkness without the comfort of your hand in mine. Wait for me, my darling. Do not force a crippled soul to run. Do not press for strength from one who is so frail.
Hold my hand in yours my dearest. Let my head rest next to yours. Let us taste the security of our togetherness. Ah, how strong we are when hand in hand my dearest.
With the Holy Spirit let us make this pilgrimage together, to our Home with our Father and His beloved Son Jesus... our Brother... our Savior... our King and our God. Together our love and our happiness will be complete and eternal."