Gospel
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.’
In today’s Gospel, the Lord urges us to “be on our guard,” to stay attentive to the greatest enemy of all—often the one hidden within our own heart. For us as spouses, this vigilance means treating one another with tenderness and loving each other with the very Love of Christ.
Saint John Paul II teaches that the heart is the place where we decide whether our spouse will be welcomed as a gift or reduced to an object. This is why the heart must be carefully guarded, lest routine, stress or fatigue slowly extinguish the loving gaze we should have for our husband or wife.
Jesus also mentions dissipation and drunkenness—signs of a heart led by disordered desires. Something similar happens in marriage when communion is damaged by attitudes that block true unity: using the other, or escaping into screens, addictions, or excessive work. These attachments quietly take the central place of the heart and erode the gratuity of love.
Vigilance, then, means remembering that before being managers of a household, we are spouses — called to give ourselves.
Finally, Jesus invites us to watch and pray. In marriage, praying together is a way of guarding our interior gaze: letting God purify our affections, renewing each day our capacity to see our spouse as a gift. Only then can we “stand firm” in the midst of trials and live our love joyfully and generously.
Applied to Married Life
Charles: Again? All this… like this? I honestly can’t cope with the chaos. I get home after a whole day’s work and seeing the house like this… I just feel like turning around and walking back out.
Beth: Charles, I’ve been on my own with the children: homework, baths, dinner… And that’s the first thing you choose to say to me? Besides, you get home when they’re already in bed.
Charles: Beth… I’m sorry. I’ve come back carrying so many worries, tensions and fears. And instead of rejoicing to see you, I let all that spill over onto you. I let myself be led by my “self”, by that egoism that hides in my heart and hurts us so much.
Beth: I want to say sorry too, Charles. The tiredness and pressure of the day made me defensive instead of welcoming you with affection after the long day you’ve had.
Charles: Beth, it’s so easy to let ourselves be carried away, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s not the mess, or the children, or the work. It’s what we are carrying inside our hearts — that becomes our real enemy.
Beth: Charles, the words of Jesus come to my mind: “Watch and pray.” I think that’s exactly what we need—watch over our hearts before speaking or wounding each other… and pray together.
Charles: Beth, shall we pray our conjugal prayer now?
Beth: Of course, Charles. Yes—let’s do it.
Mother,
guide us to safeguard our hearts, to order our desires, so that nothing may extinguish our love and so that prayer may always sustain us. Glory and praise to You, Lord, for ever.