Love Prevails!

Love is the essence of marriage. As I had said in one of my previous blogs, Catholic marriages are testimonies for the love between Jesus and His Church. Love can transcend everything; differences in attitudes, family background, status, and even religion. Yes, even religion! The very vow the couple makes, "To love and to cherish, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better for worse, till death do them part.", means that whatever happens after their marriage celebration, they will be together. Their love for each other will see them through.

Husbands and wives go through a lot of challenges and problems during their married life. They range from financial issues to extra-marital relations. But their love for each other is what would see them through those tests. Forgiveness can only be possible because of love.

That is why the decision to love can not be confused with "feeling in love". Feelings change. They are not permanent. They are reactions to experiences. The decision to love is absolute. No matter what happens, that love stands. Actually, there is nothing in marriage that can not be touched and healed by love. Because of love, the husband and the wife can go through anything successfully. That is how powerful the decision to love is. It is this kind of love that the couple expresses to each other during their marriage rite and it is that decision that they will carry out during their life of marriage.

That is why preparation before marriage is very important. It has to be clear that they are deciding to love each other. As the song says, "Kahit maputi na ang buhok ko.." (even if my hair had turned gray...). It means that love does not change with change. It persists and even grows as they live longer together. Just like wine, love is sweeter and better as they grow older.

God so love the world....

Love prevailed. Love prevails. Love will prevail.

Marriage is forever. God made it so. Jesus loved the Church unto death and even beyond death.