Skip to main content

The Concern With Marriage

As a single young Catholic, my friends I discuss marriage a lot - what do we want from our future marriages (or current marriages for those of my friends who are married), how can we prepare for marriage, what kind of man (or woman, but I don't discuss this a lot with my male friends) do we want to marry, are there things we need to change about ourselves before we get married, do we want to get married, what would we do with ourselves if we don't ever get married (single forever, UGH, religious life, eek, ...)

One of the biggest problems with the idea of marriage in our culture is that young people see all of these couples who seem happy but later on are getting divorced - 3 years in, the 7 year itch, or the bigger shocker - after 20 or 30 years of marriage getting divorced.

Side note for a second: if you think that your marriage should look the same at 55 after kids, grand-kids  25 years of marriage (probably 30 years of knowing each other), aging, etc... then you are CRAZY!  Yes, I said it - of course it's different!  Here's the problem - you want to be 25 years old again when you didn't have a care in the world, not a problem on the horizon, you could stay out until 3am drinking and no one was waiting for you at home.  Do you remember being poor and lonely then too?  No, that's because you've put it from your mind, you've forgotten the hard part about being 25, single, and in a hard, bad paying job.  Being single isn't all it's cracked up to be!  When you were 25 all you did was dream about 'growing old' with someone, having kids and raising them better than your parents did, and working your way up on the career ladder so you could make more money, have more power, and gain more prestige.

Here's the thing - we all change, we all grow, we are on a continuous journey toward ... something, hopefully for you it is salvation and eternal life (for some, they won't accept that).

What started this rant, I'm sure you're asking?  Well, it was this post that someone put on facebook.

Marriage on your Mind: 50 Best Proposals

Why would that set me off?  Well, as I was reading it all I kept thinking was how almost all of them presumed that you were living with your significant other.  Cohabitation has become the norm and it's not doing anything good for marriage - the divorce rate is even worse, up words of 65% - some estimate it to be 75%.

Now this is not a rant on anyone who lived together before they were married - however, this is not an ideal state.  Just a comment on the state of all this our country.

When I think of my future marriage (God willing), all I want is the best for both of us.  I want to be as prepared as possible so that I can be the best wife I can be for him.  When I do wed, it will be forever - as a path to our salvation and the salvation of our children.

Young men and women prepare yourselves for your future vocations - marriage, religious life, ordained life, etc...  It's more than just a big party, a way to have kids 'within the Church rules', and save some money on the bills.  It concerns our salvation, our purpose for life in the eyes of God, and the spreading of the Gospel in our world!

Comments

  1. Great post! I have an idea of why people need to be so 'over the top' when it comes to public proposals and exotic weddings. They have already spent themselves.

    They have no regard for the holiness and mystery that the Sacrament of Marriage is supposed to be. So, they have to do all kinds of silly things and make a spectacle of themselves.

    You are smart to have "holy annoyance" for what they are doing. I would love for you to check out my blog and would appreciate you feedback. God bless! Cindy

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NAS: A Day in the Life

It's 2015 and Tuesday so that means that we are back at the Not Alone Series !  A huge thanks to Jen and Morgan for hosting and for helping all of us ladies gather together to remember that we aren't broken, we aren't alone, and we are loved by God. Let's get back in the swing by sharing what our typical day is like! Tell us however you like, minute by minute or a blurb about your day! Be sure to answer these questions:  - What is your favorite part of your day? - What is your least favorite part of your day? - Are you making any changes to your daily routine now that the new year has begun? Well my typical day use to be not so typical, but then I took a huge leap and got a new job that is a lot eaiser to have a routine that is pretty set.  I am someone who loves routine, I crave stability, and although I can make changes into my routine, they have to be determined by me to stick.  So a typical day? I set my alarm to go off at 6:46am, I get out o

NAS: Travel

How do you travel as a single lady?! Any tips or tricks you'd like to share? Do you have anything fun planned for this year? Multiple times per week when I'm brushing my teeth in the morning I think about how boring my life is, how I never go anywhere. To be honest that is a complete and utter lie. I mean between July 2013 and March 2014, I hung out on four different continents - let along the time I spent traveling around the U.S. to Denver, New York City, Savannah, Orlando, and my parent's place. I'm the girl who bought a plane ticket to Africa and went into the bush all alone. (it's a great story ) Let me type that again - I went to the Congo, alone! I still can't even believe that I did that - it's the craziest thing ever ... but the most amazing experience of my life. So my off the cuff tips for traveling alone, they aren't super original, so be prepared to be underwhelmed! If you want to go somewhere, just do it - buy the ti

I Look Into my Inbox and What Did I See?

I receive the weekly notes from the Catholic Match Institute since my unsuccessful dabble in Online Dating some time ago ( link ) and today's included the face of one of my favorite priests. A man who helped me become the Catholic woman, for better or worse, that I am today. He is doing a series of five videos for CM through Advent. The first two are below ... I encourage you to watch them and stay tuned for the next three! Fr. Ananias, OSB - what an Advent treat!