Marriage prep teams are fighting for souls

By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. Cap.

(This is the last in a three-part series on marriage preparation)

Those who are willing to stand faithfully for the truth of the Church's teaching on marriage and family will find themselves, in a certain sense, on the front-lines of a spiritual battle. For marriage and family life find themselves, as the Holy Father tells us, at the center of the great struggle between love and all that is opposed to love (Letter to Families n. 23).

Spiritual warfare is real. Those charged with preparing engaged couples for marriage serve as soldiers for Christ. They are engaged in a war for the soul of the couples they serve with spiritual enemies who hate them and do not want their marriages to succeed. As St. Paul exhorts, we must put on the full armor of God so as to be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil (Eph. 6:11)

The cost of that war is the blood of martyrs, and the history of this century is written in it. That is the heart of "missionary realism." If you teach the truth, brothers and sisters, you are the friend of God. And if you are the friend of God, you are the enemy of those who revile Him.

Catholic marriage preparation, therefore, cannot be done by the disaffected or lukewarm. It's for people who have a fire in their hearts for God: who love the Church and all her teachings. It's for missionaries and soldiers of mercy, justice, and truth. It's for those who see their own suffering as a small price to pay, to be parr of God's great work of redemption.

The "good news of great joy" is that the hardest victory is already won. Christ has opened the door to new life and through the grace of the sacrament, he empowers spouses to live the full truth of conjugal love and thus "fulfill the meaning of their being and existence." Our job is to live that love in all its truth, and model it to those whom we prepare for this holy sacrament.

In order to help us fulfill this import mission, the Office of Marriage & Family Life has begun the process of updating the archdiocesan norms for Christian marriage. The goal is to establish a consistent marriage preparation policy for our local Church based on the guidelines of the recent document from the Pontifical Council for the Family, Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage.

There are already many good things happening in marriage preparation programs throughout the archdiocese. But there is also a great need to redouble our efforts in proclaiming the full truth of Church teaching on the sacred, sacramental nature of marriage and family life. The message we proclaim to engaged couples is, indeed, Good News of Great Joy!

May the Lord grant you peace and every blessing.