It may happen that we pray to God asking Him to give us this or that, to bless what we are doing, yet we still want to keep doing things our own way. It is as though we resist changing our habits, our way of thinking, our expectations, and we find it difficult to change, to allow Jesus to transform us. In today’s Gospel, He teaches us that His love cannot be poured into an old heart, a heart hardened by selfishness, pride or self-sufficiency, because it would simply be lost. He is the new wine which, as at Cana, comes into our lives to fill them with joy, grace and fruitfulness, but He needs new wineskins—that is, humble, docile hearts, open to the action of the Holy Spirit.

Spouses, Christ has not come merely to improve our marriage a little. He has not come to patch up a worn-out love, but to make it completely new, transforming it into a living image of His love for His Bride, the Church. To receive the “new wine” of sacramental grace, we must leave behind the “old wineskins” of selfish love and become new wineskins ourselves, allowing Jesus to change our hearts, and with them the way we look at one another, speak to one another, and love one another. Christian marriage is called to be continually renewed through self-giving, forgiveness, attentive listening and prayer. It is Mary’s “May it be done to me according to your word” that disposes us to receive life in Christ. Only then can married love become a living sign of Christ’s love for His Church.

Faith: While praying with today’s Gospel, I realised that I often ask the Lord to change certain things in our relationship, but almost always I’m asking Him to change you—to change the things about you that I don’t like.
Daniel: I do exactly the same, Faith. I want our conflicts to disappear, and I ask God for that, but I still cling to my own way of thinking and find it hard to let go of my pride. It’s like trying to pour new wine into old wineskins.
Faith: During prayer, I realised that Jesus doesn’t want simply to patch up our marriage. He wants to make it new from within, teaching us to love as He loves.
Daniel: And that begins with me—with changing myself, not demanding that you change. If I allow Christ to transform my heart, He will also transform the way I look at you, listen to you and serve you.
Faith: Yes, Daniel, I realised that I’m the one who needs to allow myself to be transformed as well. Today I ask the Lord for the humility to leave behind my old attitudes and to open myself to the grace we received through our sacrament.
Daniel: Me too. May we never be afraid to become new wineskins, ready to receive the wine of His love. Only then will our joy no longer depend on circumstances, but on knowing that Jesus, the Bridegroom, always walks with us.

Mother,

Guide us on our journey and teach us to trust completely in the Lord, just as you did, and to allow ourselves to be shaped by His love. Blessed and glorious are you, Mother. Praised be the Lord forever!

Thomas was one of the Twelve Apostles. He accompanied Jesus, saw Him perform miracles, received His teaching, and stood beside Him as He proclaimed the Good News. Yet even so, he did not believe his friends, his brothers, when they told him that Jesus had risen. He needed proof. In a moment of uncertainty, he gave way to his human weakness, and it seemed as though he had no faith.

And what about us? How many miracles have we witnessed? At every retreat we have seen that what seemed impossible in human eyes has become possible through the action of the Holy Spirit. And yet, how often do we still need to put our finger into the mark of the nails and our hand into His side! At the slightest difficulty, doubts and anxiety arise. But in those moments, the best thing we can do is lift our eyes to Heaven and say: Jesus, I trust in You!

John: Hello, my love. How has your day been?
Stephanie: Exhausting. I keep searching for job vacancies and sending off CVs, but nothing… Either I have too much experience or too little… It’s unbelievable! I’ve only got another two months of unemployment benefit left.
John: Well, my manager called me in today to speak with me. He told me the company is doing very badly and they’re going to close our office…
Stephanie: What? I can’t believe it! Oh my goodness! What are we going to do? (Stephanie bursts into tears.)
John: Don’t worry, it’s not redundancy. They know about our situation, and they’ve offered me a transfer to a larger office in another county. Even so, moving with the children, changing schools, the mortgage… it won’t be easy.
Stephanie: (Now calmer.) A transfer? I honestly don’t know what to think right now… Shall we go and spend a little while in the Perpetual Adoration chapel? Mum has taken the children to the swimming pool.
John: I think that’s an excellent idea. Let’s place ourselves in the hands of the Lord and of Our Blessed Mother.
(As they leave the chapel.)
Stephanie: It’s incredible how the Lord puts everything in its proper place. I feel completely at peace. This could become a wonderful opportunity for us to grow in our marriage and become even more united. It’s true that we’ll be far from everyone, but we could look for a larger flat or even a house where the family can come and stay with us. And it will probably be easier for me to find work there. I’m sure we’ll also find a Marital Love Project community so that we can continue our formation through the catechism and the monthly Adoration, which have done us so much good. And they will help us since they are our family in the Lord.
John: Glory be to God! I love you so much, my darling.

Mother,

We consecrate ourselves entirely to you. Help us to say from the depths of our hearts: “Jesus, I trust in You!” Blessed and praised be you.

From the Gospel according toMatthew 9:1–8

We must continually give thanks to God for the gift of faith, a wonderful gift that comes from Him and one that we must continually nourish. In this passage, the Lord shows us how we are to live out our faith: sometimes as those who carry the stretcher, bringing our friends to the Lord, and at other times as the paralysed man, allowing ourselves to be carried to God so that we may receive His forgiveness. Through the Sacrament of Marriage, spouses are called to strengthen their faith by looking into the heart of their husband or wife, acting as stretcher-bearers whenever our spouse is in need, and also by allowing ourselves to be helped whenever we are paralysed by our own sin, letting our spouse bring us closer to the Lord. Our vocation calls us to see Christ continually in our spouse and to respond as God asks of us, attentive to what is in their heart and always ready to give ourselves completely and to receive them with love. Sin paralyses the soul because it causes us to lose the grace of God and prevents us from doing many good things. A paralysed soul cannot properly direct the body, and although the body is temporary, it can lead us away from God. What use is a healthy body if the soul is paralysed? May we never grow weary of seeking the grace of God’s forgiveness, always ready to carry our spouse on a stretcher if necessary, giving our lives to help bring them closer to God.

Paul: Your brother called me, furious about the conversation we had yesterday during lunch with your family. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can deal with them. I’m tired of them always picking on me, and then when I defend myself, somehow they’re the ones who are offended.
Martha: There you go again, always criticising my family whenever you get the chance and throwing it back at me.
Paul: That’s not true, and you know it. I always make an effort, and it never seems to make any difference. You see? However hard I try, you always take their side without even knowing what we talked about.
Martha: You’re right. I criticised you and judged you before even asking why my brother was upset. I did notice something yesterday, but I was more focused on my parents and assumed it wasn’t important.
Paul: To be honest, it wasn’t that important. But you know what your brother’s like. I know that in the past I would have looked for any excuse to criticise your family, but although I still find it difficult sometimes, I really do make an effort now.
Martha: Forgive me for becoming defensive without knowing what had happened. Shall we go to Confession together and let the Lord free our souls from this?
Paul: Go to Confession? It really wasn’t that serious. Besides, I only went a little over two weeks ago, and I don’t have that much to confess.
Martha: Sometimes I think the same, that I can wait. But the grace of Confession helps me to see more clearly into your heart, to recognise what is there and how hard you’re trying in the areas where you struggle most.
Paul: This time you’re the one who’s right. I’ll come with you, and while I’m there I’ll go to Confession too. It always does me so much good. It helps me become a better man, and it’s also an opportunity to thank God for how much you help me to grow closer to Him.

Mother,

Show us, as husbands and wives, what lies within our hearts, so that we may help one another to be healed. May our faith lead us to complete abandonment in God, always trusting in the healing that comes through the sacraments.

Blessed and praised be God.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 8:28–34

With this striking image, Jesus reveals the true nature of evil: a chaotic force that seeks to divide, destroy and drive us over the edge, separating us from God. This is what evil desires. Yet that precipice is not always visible or immediate. That is why we must remain vigilant, because evil often works quietly, disguised as something good or as a false sense of justice, gradually wearing away love and little by little pushing our marriage towards isolation, division and breakdown. It slips in through accumulated resentments, silence, indifference, a harsh reply, an unkind gesture, a lack of affection… Be careful! Evil rarely enters all at once; it usually comes subtly, but its aim is always to dehumanise the home, turning it into a cold place like the tombs, where no one wants to remain. Yet we also see that Jesus has absolute authority over evil. It may appear dramatic, shouting and threatening, but in the presence of Jesus it loses all its power. One single word from Him is enough to overcome chaos and restore peace. His power to heal and set free is infinitely greater than any wound evil may have inflicted. Therefore, no marriage is so wounded, so enslaved or so broken that it cannot be reached by His mercy. All we need to do is welcome Jesus and allow Him to do what only He can do: to set us free, rebuild what seemed beyond repair, and restore life where there was death. The real tragedy is that, like the Gerasenes, we are often willing to send Jesus away rather than lose our false sense of security. And this is the true evil: closing our hearts to Christ. May this never happen to us.

The house was silent. It was not the silence of peace, but the silence of distance. Each member of the family was shut away in their own world: the children absorbed by their screens, and their parents each occupied with their own concerns. They scarcely exchanged a few words during the day. There were no more embraces, no laughter, no shared dreams. Only a cold coexistence, where no one expected anything from the other anymore.

That evening, Rose remembered some words she had heard years before: “The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be over marriage and the family.”

A shiver ran through her. Deep in her heart she realised that evil had quietly scored a victory without them even noticing.

Rose: Peter, we’ve fallen into the trap. Evil disguised itself as something good, and we convinced ourselves that separating would solve everything and that the children would stop suffering.
Peter: I think their greatest suffering would be no longer seeing the love between their parents.
Rose: I don’t want our children to grow up believing that evil has the final word.
Peter: It’s in our hands, Rose. Let’s not be led by what we feel right now. This is a decision of the will. The problem isn’t that our love has died; the problem is that we have left outside our home the One who can bring it back to life. Remember Our Lady’s words at Fatima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
That night, the problems did not disappear, but they believed once again that God could restore life to what had seemed dead.

Mother,

Thank you for warning us about the great battle being fought within our families. May we never doubt the power of Jesus or your victory. Dear Mother, may your Immaculate Heart also triumph in our marriage.

Blessed are you!

Jesus gets into the boat first, and the disciples follow Him. So it is with marriage: Christ steps into the boat first and invites us to follow Him. But then the storms come: tiredness, wounds, arguments, children, finances, our mission, differences in temper. And then we begin to think, “Lord, do You not see that we are sinking?” Christ is not outside our boat. He is within the sacrament. He may seem to be asleep, but He is there. Sometimes He allows the waves so that we stop relying on our own strength, stop trying to steer the boat ourselves, and learn instead to trust Him and do what He asks of us. The answer is never to abandon the boat, nor to throw ourselves into the waters of pride, complaint or of demanding too much. Wake Christ up with your prayer! Look at Him with attentive eyes, knowing that only in Him will you find what you are seeking. Obey Him even when you do not understand, and say: “Rise up, Lord, within my heart. Rebuke my fears and bring Your peace.”

Applied to Married Life

Martha: Louis, I think we’re expecting too much from the children when it comes to praying the Rosary together as a family.
Louis: You’ve been talking to your mother again, haven’t you?
Martha: Yes, and what of it? She’s my mother! I’m tired of this constant battle you have with my family.
Louis: And I’m tired of your mother having the final say every time we make a decision.
Martha: She doesn’t have the final say. She simply helps me to see things more clearly. Just as your mother does when you speak to her.
Louis: Martha, all I know is that we need to do this differently. In the end, by listening to everyone else, we end up against each other, and nothing moves forward.
Martha: You’re right… It seems that everyone is speaking in our boat except the Lord.
Louis: Exactly. We ask everyone else for advice, we look to everyone else for support… and we leave Him asleep.
Martha: Just like in the Gospel. Jesus was in the boat, but they were looking more at the storm than at Him.
Louis: And we’re doing exactly the same. We focus on what my mother says, what yours says, what other people will think…
Martha: And only when we’re already sinking do we remember to pray.
Louis: Then let’s not allow that to happen. Before making any decision, let’s ask the Lord for His help.
Martha: Yes. “Lord, save us! We are perishing.”
Louis: And may He show us how to lead our children to Him, without turning it into a battle between our families.
Martha: Agreed. First, you and I will pray together.
Louis: And then we’ll talk calmly.
Martha: And with our phones well out of reach.
Louis: Amen. Because that’s where so many waves come from.

Mother,

Teach us to sail with Jesus, to remain with Him in times of trial, and to believe that no wave is stronger than His presence. Praised be the Lord!