As we continue to read the story of Tobit and journey with him and his family as they go from despair to hope we encounter the marriage of Tobiah and Sarah. As they go to bed on their first night together, they do something truly worth while, they pray together.
Imagine that!
When was the last time this aspect of family life was seen on TV. Television has gone where no one has gone before. They have pushed the envelope, in fact some would suggest they threw out the envelope completely.
TV and movies and the media have exploited every aspect of family life; they have taken us directly in to bedroom and exposed the intimacy of the marital embrace and have defiled the marriage bed. The sacredness of love and life have been trampled upon time and time again, night after night.
And we as Christians have sat back and have done nothing about it. We have simply grabbed a drink and quietly ate our popcorn as the media has had its way. Shame on us.
No wonder marriage it in the fix that it is in. No wonder marriages don't last.
How would our society change, if TV programs would show couples praying together, sincerely and truly. How would our society change if couples instead of watching TV would stop and pray together as Tobiah and Sarah do today in the reading.
The problem of marriage is primarily a problem of faith, a problem of prayer. Where there is no faith and prayer their will be no true love.
Prayer invites God to sanctify the love between a husband and a wife. Invites God to make their weak love strong. This is what is lacking in our marriage, sanctification.
"Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife, "My love, get up. Let us pray and beg God to have mercy on us and grant us deliverance. she got up and they started to pray..."
"Blessed are you, O God of our fathers, praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from those two the human race descended. You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.' Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age. They both said together, "Amen, amen."
These are the words that need to fill our marriages. When 'amen' echo through our marriages then our families will once again experience the grace God intends for them.
scripture for memory
"But when your pray go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you." Mt 6:6
quote of the day
"The business done in the home is nothing less than the shaping of the bodies and souls of humanity. The family is the factory that manufactures mankind." G.K. Chesterton
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