We have all experienced the joy of sharing what we have with others, especially when we do so for those in need. When we share, we do not lose, rather we gain. Not only do we have more, we are more and our heart is filled with joy.
How much greater would that joy be if what was being shared was not something, but someone, when it is one’s own life? All of it! No limits, no conditions. This is the joy of marriage upon which God chose to bestow a special grace, elevating it to the status of sacrament. That is its strength! It is a visible sign that speaks to us of an invisible reality.
This video shows us the relationship between the sacrament of the Eucharist and that of marriage. It is thanks to the abundant love of God which pours out into these sacraments that they bear fruit: children in marriage and fruits of the Spirit -joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, patience…
The union of spouses is a visible sign of Christ’s union with His Church. As Christ gave himself over for the Church, that is, for all of us, so too are we called to love Christ and be intimately united with Him. Spouses are also called to love and give of themselves to one another, loving each other with the love of Christ.
This is the “amen” that we hear of in the video. “So be it, Lord.” Each time that we receive Communion, we are accepting Christ who has given us his Body, like spouses who have given over their bodies and their lives to one another. When we receive Communion, the Lord Jesus reminds us of his fidelity and bestows upon us the gift of himself and similarly, we renew our desire to be faithful, to truly form his Church, the spouse of Christ.
I would like to share a small excerpt from the prayer of the Nuptial Blessing that is said during a Catholic wedding. It can help us to deepen the richness of the comparison between these two sacraments.
Holy Father, who formed man in your own image, male and female you created them, so that as husband and wife, united in body and heart, they might fulfill their calling in the world…
O God, who, to reveal the great design you formed in your love, willed that the love of spouses for each other should foreshadow the covenant you graciously made with your people, so that, by fulfillment of the sacramental sign, the mystical marriage of Christ with his Church might become manifest in the union of husband and wife among your faithful…
Grant, O Lord, that, as they enter upon this sacramental union, they may share with one another the gifts of your love and, by being for each other a sign of your presence, become one heart and one mind.
