Today, many of us priests, especially pastors, are experiencing the heavy demand of pastoral and administrative works. But no matter how busy we priests are, one thing is certain: we cannot persevere or survive in our ministry without a deep spirituality that is rooted in prayer, in fraternity with Jesus.  Perhaps, some of us priests say that our heavy work has not given us the necessary time to be with God in personal prayer, except our times of saying Masses and celebrating other Sacraments. However, this excuse has led some of us to frustrations, fatigue, depression and other ailments that have caused unhealthy behaviors such as addiction, unhealthy relationships, and anger.

I can say that it is the same with marriage. A marriage would fail or would become stagnant without prayer life, without spirituality. Spouses who don’t relate to God in intimate or fraternal ways are not going to persevere in their commitment to marriage and family. They may say that they are getting by despite their heavy responsibilities of raising children, but they may not be receiving the spiritual graces of joy and strength they need to persevere in their commitments. Marriages without spirituality experience the threats of infidelity, heartbreaks, and unhappiness.

The Gospel this Sunday speaks about marriage: “What God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Such statement implies a strong commitment to marriage. Even spouses who have been in love with each other for years have faced the difficulties and challenges of maintaining this commitment. Again, without surrendering their lives to God in daily prayer they won’t be able to survive well.

What does this spirituality in marriage involve? It entails a commitment from each spouse to spend time alone with God. Like priests, married people need to commit themselves to daily time of prayer, to be alone with God, to speak to Him like a friend, to express to Him all their struggles and difficulties, to ask for the grace of strength, joy, and perseverance. Others make excuse not to do this. Why? It’s because they might be afraid of what they will see within their hearts. For in prayer, we become naked before God who knows everything that we are.

In prayer we draw strength from God; in prayer we become at peace with ourselves. Let every relationship and every commitment we make be rooted in fraternity with God through Jesus Christ our Lord!