ITALY, Vanda Rebuffat and Eugenio Minici •
As a follow-up to the Married Couples’ Coffee (which we spoke about earlier), in which several couples from Terricciola (Pisa) participated, the couples decided to continue the journey of growth (with a view to the creation and consolidation of a community of married couples), inspired by the spirituality of the Schoenstatt Movement. On Saturday, March 16, the second meeting of the new cycle was held on the theme “United we are stronger”. The meeting, as usual, was led by two couples from the Family Federation of Rome. —
They began with the reading of a passage from the Gospel of St. John, which can be summarized as follows: “That they all may be one: as you, Father, are in me and I in you” (John 17:21).
They then presented the theme of the meeting, which addressed the following points:
- With marriage we have sealed our covenant, a union that is meant to be an expression of God’s love for humanity. The threads of our lives become more and more interwoven, revealing themselves to each other in our day-to-day lives, with our qualities and defects.
- How can we best live our marriage and shape our life together? The image of our union can grow if we open up to each other with sincerity, communicating our emotional, spiritual and physical needs. In this way, our marriage is strengthened and transformed into a resilient community.
- We feel a unity, rich in its diversity. A unity that considers the “you” of the other as a precious gift, a source of enrichment. From this unity we shape our life, conscious that God accompanies us in realizing the project of love for our marriage.
- Our union is meant to be a blessing. On the path of life, we are united to a person who loves us, allowing our ability to love to grow more and more. Together we experience joy, but also suffering, due to our limitations. United, we strive to keep the fire of our love alive. When we unite with another person, our union is strengthened.
- With the closeness of others, we discover that we all face similar challenges, though in different ways. We can share our joys, aware that we are not islands, but part of a resilient network.
- Belonging to a group or community brings us additional blessings. In these communities we discover shared values that give us confidence and support in difficult situations. Mutual prayer strengthens us and in moments of strength, our energies are multiplied, allowing us to act together for the common good and shape the world according to our ideals.
Couples Conversation
After pointing out the agenda of the meeting, they moved on to a moment of dialogue between each couple, based on the following questions:
- In what aspect does my spouse enrich me?
- In what moment of life or crisis situation do we experience that having bonds of affection with others has strengthened us as a couple?
In conclusion, it can be affirmed that the union of marriage brings to bloom in the other the potential not expressed by the love reflected in the other. Man must have bonds, which touch from a natural level all the fibers of his soul. If we do not have bonds, to the same extent that the connection is lacking, there will be a rupture in his soul. The normally raised human being needs an organism of connections with places, people, ideas. Man must be rooted in an organism of attachments and be healthy to the extent that this organism of attachments provides it (cf. Fr. J. Kentenich, October 2-5, 1951).
Original: Italian. Translation : Marcela Fernández, Toronto, Canada
