The Catholic Church cares deeply about marriage. The Second Vatican Council stated that, “The well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and family.” (Gaudium et Spes, 48) Marriage is a great gift to society.
The Catholic Church cares deeply about your marriage knowing that marriage witnesses to God’s faithful, fruitful, and lasting love for His people. Marriage confers a myriad of benefits on a husband and wife, and on any children with whom the family is blessed. The Church provides many on-the-ground helps for couples to keep their marriages strong, happy, and holy. Among these is Marriage Encounter, an international program with over fifty years of experiences helping couples grow closer to God and to each other. https://wwme.org
Pope Francis refers to marriage as “the most beautiful thing that God has created.” While on their wedding day, the bride and groom promise to be faithful to each other “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” Sooner or later, all couples face the “worse,” “poorer,” or “sickness” in their marriage. At these times of difficulty, married couples benefit tremendously from the support of their Church family, friends, and relatives. It is important to reach out for help in times of trouble.
Disagreements are normal in a marriage, the Holy Father, Pope Francis explains. He recognizes the complexity of certain marital situations and advised spouses with these struggles to “ask for help straight away . . . when this temptation comes.” Pope Francis provides advice to help couples by “offering welcome, closeness, accompaniment, discernment, and integration into the Body of the Church.” He also offers three phrases to aid in building up a marriage: “May I,” “Thank you,” and “Forgive me.” Among the many resources available to couples seeking to rebuild their bonds of matrimony is another international program with decades of service, Retrouvaille. http://www.retrouvaille.org
I encourage all couples to check the health of your marriage routinely and to give the necessary time and effort to heal, maintain, and grow your marital relationship. Your marriage is a gift from God to you, and a gift from God to society. Treasure it and protect it from all that seeks to divide it.