CV NEWS FEED // In an opinion article published in The Denver Catholic, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver, Colorado, expressed gratitude to couples living their vows courageously, because they fill the whole Church with the grace of fidelity to God’s plans.
In the article titled “Marriage, Mutual Submission, and the Sign of the Covenant,” Aquila shared how his experience with a couples retreat organized by the John Paul II Healing Center has been “an immense source of gratitude for me as a bishop.”
“The basic building block of society is the family, and the primary analogy which Jesus gives us to understand the Church is marriage,” the archbishop wrote:
In creating man and woman for each other and to be in relationship with each other in marriage, God reveals his plan for our salvation and establishes it as a sign, not only for those who participate in it, but for the entire world.
“When we look at a sacramentally married couple,” Aquila continued, “we should see a sign of what Jesus accomplished in his paschal mystery. We should see a complete, total, and mutual gift of self, the husband to the wife, which inspires us to live according to the standard of the Gospel.”
“Married couples image the love of Christ and, when lived in charity, this becomes an immensely powerful witness,” he wrote.
The Archbishop explained how St. Paul’s command that “wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord… Now as the church submits to Christ,” (Eph 5:22-23) are “difficult words” in our current culture, but reminded that the literal meaning of the word submission is “under the mission” of the other.
“Seen in this context, both the husband and wife are called to place themselves under the other’s mission. This decision demands maturity, self-denial, and a true surrendering to the Lord on the part of both spouses,” Aquila wrote.
In doing so, Aquila concluded, “you become a powerful witness to the Lord’s covenant and salvation. I am grateful to all of you who are living your marriages courageously, pursuing God’s plan for your holiness and mission, and sharing your love and joy with others.”
