Living Catholicism

I wish to focus on three aspects of Christ's love for the Church.

1) Unconditional - Christ's love for the Church was unconditional. He knew our sinful state, He knew we would often be unfaithful, and He knew that we would, at times, fail to truly love Him in return...yet He loved us anyways. Jesus longs for our love, but it is not the deciding factor to His loving us.
2) Humble - Jesus loved the Church in complete humility. He is Almighty God, and He took on human flesh, He dwelt among us, He allowed Himself to be humiliated, persecuted, and killed for us... He never allowed Himself to become prideful or arrogant with us. He loved us humbly.
3) Sacrificially - This is the hard one for it entails sacrifice and dying to oneself. Jesus Christ laid aside His Eternal Glory, His beatific majesty, and even most temporal pleasure in order to manifest His perfect love and salvation to us. He laid down His life, dying a horrific death for love of us.

So what does this mean, practically speaking, for us men, as husbands.
1) Unconditionally love your wives - Your love must not be based on her external appearance, the organization of your home, her constant attention to you and your needs, or her own spiritual, emotional state. It must be a love based on the example of Christ, a love that sees the beauty of the woman you have been united to in the sacrament of Matrimony, before Chirst and the Church.
2) Seek to be humble in loving your wife - this in no way means being a doormat or a pushover, rather it means not allowing yourself to take an arrogant, demanding attitude toward your wife. Yes, you, as the husband, are the spiritual head of your family, but that doesn't make you a tyranical dictator. You must listen to your wife, value her opinion, seek to make mutual decisions, pray together, work side-by-side in taking care of your children and your home.
3) Lay down your life - this simply means that as a husband you must not make yourself the priority. You gave yourself to your wife, so love her accordingly. Believe me guys this can be extremely difficult, especially during football season, but we must strive to more perfectly imitate Christ in this manner. Do we get to do those things important to us? Absolutely. In fact, that old saying you have to give to receive takes on a whole new meaning in this regard. Finally, and maybe most importantly, you can not keep score. Give of yourself, out of love for your wife and for God not in expectation of a "fair" or "equal" return. Christ will reward you in ways you never imagined, in fact He already has by dying for you.

In the end, love is what matters. Christ shows us this daily. The secret to a long, happy marriage is this love. It will, at times, be a struggle and maybe even burdensome, but it is God's will for us as husbands. So with St. Paul I once again remind all of us, as husbands, to "love [our] wives, as Christ loved the church."

Below is a link to an outstanding book for husbands and fathers.

May the Holy Family continue to bless and guide you and your family. Amen.

Head of the Family