The Lord has come to bring Life to all who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. How much light is reflected by a marriage that lives the Kingdom of God in daily life, that lives in intimacy with the Lord. You can see it: the peace, the joy… and when difficulties come, they no longer live them trapped in the darkness of not understanding. They live them with trust, knowing that everything forms part of God’s plan for them, that in the end everything has meaning—because they are in the hands of the One who is Lord of heaven and earth.
Yet today, many marriages live in darkness, with no shared intimacy at all—rushing from one thing to another, dragged along by consumerism, whims, passions and impulses. But the Lord is Light, and when He enters a marriage, life springs up… and that life spreads. With just a small “yes”, the Lord is able to make everything new. And little by little, those spouses become apostles.
Are you willing to let Christ enter your marriage?

Applied to Married Life

John: Today, Elizabeth, I want to thank God for rescuing us from our darkness. And I want to thank Him for giving us Richard and Stephanie as our mentors—what a light they have been for us!
Elizabeth: Yes, they have truly been a blessing. They have given their lives for us. They have led us to God with such love that today—one year after the Lord rescued us from death and brought light into our lives—this day is simply for gratitude. It has cost us a lot of effort, and it still does… but it’s worth it.
John: We still have a long journey ahead, but looking back, we can see how far we’ve come. It hasn’t been without struggle, of course, but it has absolutely been worth it. Now we see light, and we have hope—and above all, we’ve learned to trust in the Lord.
Elizabeth: This is the story of salvation that God has wanted for us. How much grace has been poured out!
John: So, what do you say we celebrate this first anniversary of “new life” by going to the Eucharist and thanking God as He deserves?
Elizabeth: That sounds wonderful. I don’t think there’s any better way to celebrate.

Mother,

take us by the hand to the One who is Light, so that we may never again live in darkness. Blessed are you for ever, Mother.

At that time: Jesus went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind.’

This Gospel reveals the tension that arises when a person allows themselves to be transformed by the love of God. Grace reorders the heart, reshapes priorities and expands our capacity to love. Yet that transformation is not always understood by those who are closest to us.
In marriage, this experience becomes concrete when one spouse moves more quickly along the spiritual path. Their love becomes more generous and self-giving, while the other may feel unsettled or insecure. Even so, this difference in pace is not a threat to communion, but a privileged place where grace is at work.
From the world’s perspective, living this way may look like being “beside oneself”. From God’s perspective, it is the true wisdom of love that gives itself. Marital communion is not built on uniformity, but on mutual welcome and daily fidelity.
The one who walks faster is called to love with patience and tenderness; the one who walks more slowly is invited to allow grace to reach them through the other. In this way, marriage becomes a concrete path of sanctification, where spousal love livingly reflects the self-giving love of Christ.

Applied to Married Life

Anna: Edward, lately you seem different… quieter, as if your mind were elsewhere.
Edward: Anna, ever since the retreat, when I became aware of the greatness of the sacrament of marriage, I feel in prayer that the Lord is asking me to love you as He loves you—even though many times I don’t quite know how to do that.
Anna: Love, to be honest, sometimes you leave me feeling unsettled. Before, you would argue and get upset so easily, and now there are moments when it seems as though nothing affects you.
Edward: Anna, it’s not that I don’t care. It’s that I’m trying to love you better, even if I often do it clumsily and make mistakes.
Anna: Oh, Edward… I can see that you’re growing a great deal in your union with the Lord, that you’re seeking moments of intimacy with Him, and I feel as though I’m being left behind.
Edward: Anna, I don’t want to walk ahead of you. If I’m learning anything, it’s that grace always reaches us together. The Lord works in each of us in His own time, but always for the good of both. And I need to learn to wait for you and to love you without placing demands on you.
Anna: To be honest, it frightens me a little, but I ask you to be patient and to walk with me. Even if we move more slowly, let it be together.
Edward: Of course, love. And if we make mistakes, may it be by trusting grace more than our own strength.

Mother,

welcome our marriage, keep us in unity, and always lead us—together—towards your Son. Blessed and praised be the Lord, now and for ever.

At that time: Jesus went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named Apostles, so that they might be with him, and he might send them out to preach, and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder; Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

We can imagine how the Lord went on calling people one by one to follow Him, and they said “yes” and went with Him. What a beautiful thing!
And that same beautiful story is being repeated today, here and now, with us. He chooses us to live a wonderful plan, a great and beautiful vocation in which to follow Him: the vocation of marriage. And on our wedding day, as spouses, we say “yes” to following Him.
What do we say yes to?
In prosperity and in adversity, in sickness and in health, every day of our lives. How beautiful! “Congratulations!” everyone says—friends, family, acquaintances…
But those same people do not say the same thing when the setting changes.
Then daily life arrives. I grow tired and reproach my spouse for working so much and not helping me enough—and I say “no” to the Lord. My pride appears and I get angry because my spouse does not listen to me—and again I say “no” to the Lord. And where on the wedding day there were congratulations, now the advice is: “Separate.” Why? Has only the situation changed? Are love and commitment circumstantial and fleeting?
No. As Saint Paul says: “Love never ends.”
Now is the time to love more. Precisely where the Lord asks for our “yes”, that is where He calls you and me—here and now. Can you hear Him? If so, it is Him calling out to us as spouses:
Come and follow Me—in your spouse.

Applied to Married Life

Claire: Darling, I’m going to make dinner.
Charles (thinking): Here she goes again, saying it out loud so I’ll help… I’m sure of it. Well, I’m staying right here on the internet.
Claire: Would you like an omelette, or do you prefer scrambled eggs?
Charles (thinking): She’s definitely asking so I’ll get up and help. I’m not moving—I deserve a rest… Eggs, Claire!
Claire: Love, I’m coming over to enjoy whatever you’re doing—I’ve already finished dinner.
Charles: Oh, I was just looking for a watch, nothing else.
Claire: Well, show me—I’ll help you choose one.
Charles (thinking): She makes dinner and still cares about what I’m doing… it’s incredible. And here I was thinking badly of her. Honestly, since we’ve been going to the Marital Love Project group, her heart has changed so much—and yet I still look at her with such a critical eye.
Claire: Come on, show me the models—there must be a nice one.
Charles: Love, forgive me for judging you. I thought you were calling me just to pull me away from the internet… and instead you made dinner and cared about the watch I want. I’ll set the table right now.
Claire: Well, by God’s grace I realise you’re tired after work, so I made dinner and that’s fine. Now let’s just enjoy this together.
Charles: Not a chance—it’ll go cold after all the effort you put into it. I’ll set the table with the children and we’ll eat right away. I know you like your food hot.
Claire: Alright, love—let’s do it together.
Charles: I’d really like to go deeper and welcome what we’re learning in the Marital Love Project catechesis the way you do. You truly are a different wife—and a different mother.
Claire: Then let’s ask the Lord for it tonight in our couple prayer, and He will do it.
Charles: Yes! I can’t wait to start.

Mother,

may we say yes at every moment, just as you did. Praise be to the Lord!

At that time: Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

Applied to Married Life

Luke: Yesterday at the office I spoke with Philip because he’s been anxious, worried, and overwhelmed. He told me that someone had recommended some Eastern relaxation techniques that promise great peace and all sorts of things.
Mary: And what did you say to him? He does sound rather lost. That doesn’t seem very Christian, does it?
Luke: No, of course not. I told him that true peace is found only in God. That Jesus Himself said He gives us His peace, and that those who are weary and burdened should come to Him, because He will give them rest.
Mary: How sad that so often we look for peace in the wrong place. And what did Philip say?
Luke: He thanked me and asked for help to return to God. He’s drifted away and stopped going to the sacraments—confession and the Eucharist.
Mary: Oh, what joy! Thanks be to God for making you an instrument for Philip. Glory be to God!
Luke: Glory be to Him for ever!

Mother,

thank you for giving us Jesus. Help us to receive Him in the Eucharist with the purity, humility, and devotion with which you received Him. Blessed and praised be the Lord for ever. Amen.

At that time: Again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come here.’ And he said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. And he looked round at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

My good Jesus, You love me infinitely. You have shown me this a thousand times, above all by giving Your life for me in a terrible Passion…
What causes You suffering? In this Gospel You tell us: “grieved by the hardness of their hearts.” My hardness of heart grieves You. And I do not want You to suffer in the slightest—I want You to delight in me. Yet I know I have a hardened heart, because so often I do not look at my spouse with Your eyes: I speak harshly, accuse, judge, fail to excuse…
Sometimes I do not even notice this hardness of heart, and that is worse still—because it is there, it hurts You, and if I do not see it, I cannot fight against it.
Please help me to recognise the hardness of my heart, to be truly attentive and to discover it in my daily life. If I think I hardly have any, then I have a great deal—because it lies behind every sin.
Heal me, Lord, with the medicine of the heart: Your Word.
“Listen: you shall love the Lord your God above all things, and your neighbour as yourself.”
“Deny yourself, take up your cross each day.”
“Pray, pray.”
A path of prayer and sacraments, of humility and purification of heart. To seek only Your Will, to flee from my own—because my will must never be the measure.
Thank You, Lord. With You, I will succeed.

Applied to Married Life

Martha: Andrew, please forgive me for the way I’ve been this week. I’ve just come from confession and spent a long time with the Lord, and I can see clearly again. Forgive me. I’ve been overwhelmed with work and barely prayed at all—and now I see the harm I’ve caused you. Without prayer, I cannot listen to the Lord. I end up listening only to myself, judging you, seeing everything from my side alone, speaking badly to you… and then justifying myself, thinking I’m right after all I do. Evil blinds me. It strikes me how, as soon as I drift even a little from the Lord, everything starts to fall apart.
Andrew: I love you very much. Hearing this fills me with joy. These days I’ve tried to help you more, to encourage you not to neglect prayer, to avoid reacting badly… and it felt as though nothing worked, as though nothing helped. Forgive me too, because I didn’t always put myself fully in your place. It’s so clear: when we neglect daily prayer, the Lord cannot guide us because we are no longer listening—and then we know very well who does guide us. And without our couple prayer, it becomes harder to see each other’s hearts, to share our intimacy… and we know who takes advantage of that.
Martha: Yes. Please, let’s help each other to be truly disciplined about this. Not a single day without prayer—so that we may learn to live with Jesus and in Jesus. He loves us so much!

Mother,

please help us to persevere in prayer. We want to live in you and, through you, in your Son.
Blessed and praised be the Lord! Glory to God!