Pastor's Note

RIPPLE EFFECT OF LOVE
February 11th, 2007

There is a saying among family therapists: “The greatest thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother.” The same statement is also made about the woman loving her children’s father. The point, simply put, is that love between spouses can do more for the well-being of their children than anything else can.
A couple of clarification points help. First of all, love is not just a warm feeling of one marriage partner for the other. Love is always about commitment and response to the other. Secondly, children have antennae that pick up the good communication and care expressed by one parent for the other. (Sadly, they also pick up stress and negativity.)
Today is World Marriage Day, the beginning of Marriage Week (which, not incidentally, includes Valentine’s Day). The church wants to support, affirm, and encourage all married couples in living their vocation.
What I want to remind you is that the health of a marriage greatly affects others. Just as children are blessed through their parents’ love, so is the whole community. This very basic element of our society, namely the married couple, becomes the building block of so much more.
Good marriages are established by many good choices, beginning with finding the right spouse. That is often hard. Many couples from varying backgrounds or family styles, need much hard work before the marriage even begins.
Let’s also take a moment to support those divorced couples who are trying to work together in cooperative ways to raise their children. That is often not easy. And finally, to all engaged couples, we encourage you to work hard to make sure that your marriage is well-established and built on the strong foundation of faith, love, and forgiveness.