MARRIAGE, THE SACRAMENT

LIKE THE EUCHARIST, marriage is
the giving and receiving of flesh and blood
for the life of the world,
a literal dying of self so that others may live abundantly.

LIKE BAPTISM, it is a birth into a greater communion,
a literal bestowal and revelation of life.

LIKE CONFIRMATION, it is a gradual growth
into mutual responsibility, a confirmation of
one another's being - body, soul, and spirit.

LIKE RECONCILIATION, marriage is a daily
practice and the school of forgiveness par excellence.

LIKE PRIESTHOOD, marriage becomes a ministry
of counsel and grace to another.

LIKE AN ANOINTING, as of the sick, it is a repeated
giving and receiving of healing touch.

MARRIAGE - here human flesh experiences
the wonder of divine love.
Here mutual rest becomes Sabbath refreshment,
conversation an entrance into the life of the Word,
and one another's company a presentiment
of the life of the Trinity.

- Patrick Jordan

From CHURCH magazine 2001. National Pastoral Life Center, email syarri@nplc.org. Prayer cards available in packs of 50.