Marriage still matters in the lives of people. Considered an optional institution to the world and a permanent bond of faith, though fragile, to the People of God. Unseen challenges and opportunities emerge in married life that put convictions or earlier achievements into question and demand new answers and solutions.

The values of marriage and family have become detached from one another in recent years and are at risk of becoming optional choices that are no longer the symbolic love of God’s Light in the world. More than ever, 65% of all adults view the lifetime union of marriage for the purpose of mutual happiness and fulfillment rather than for bearing and raising children.*

Marriage is viewed as a means to satisfy the desires of one another’s needs for happiness and the means to pursue happiness through marriage is exchanged openly and publicly.

Children have fallen to eighth out of nine on a list of items that people associate with successful marriages – well behind "sharing household chores," "good housing," "adequate income," "happy sexual relationship," and "faithfulness." Back in 1990, when the American public was given this same list on a World Values Survey, children ranked third in importance.*

Children may be perceived as less central to marriage, but they are as important as ever to their parents. As a source of adult happiness and fulfillment, children occupy a pedestal matched only by spouses and situated well above that of jobs, career, friends, hobbies and other relatives.

With marriage exerting less influence over how adults organize their lives and bear their children, cohabitation is filling some of the vacuum. Today about a half of all non-marital births are to a cohabiting couple; 15 years ago, only about a third were. Cohabiters are ambivalent about marriage – just under half (44%) say they want to marry; a nearly equal portion (41%) say they aren't sure.*

Cohabitation has become the proving ground for new models of trial. Nearly half (47%) of adults in their 30s and 40s have spent a portion of their lives in a cohabiting relationship.*

The resiliency of marriage and family is tested and has increasingly come under strain in today’s context. Yet, marriage remains highly valued by a great majority of the population. The value of marriage and family success ultimately depends on the ability to cope with challenges and turn them into opportunities.

Despite the challenges faced in today’s context, marriage responds to the deep desire of men and women to construct strong, stable relationships, to be recognized, known and loved, and to give of themselves. This is the lasting heritage gained by the lifelong marital promise.

Marital spirituality passes through and exists within shared marital experience. In marriage, the Light of Christ and His Word are given flesh. Everything that is loving and life-giving and flows between the wife and husband contributes to the context of their spirituality and constitutes the heart of marital love.

The Divine indwelling of God, the Presence of God wherever love exists and the God who is present in all acts of kindness, generosity and sacrifice, as described toward the end of Matthew’s Gospel points to God’s presence in the world. All of marriage can be viewed as sacramental, filling shared lives with Goodness and goodness.

Gaining awareness this can be helped by focusing attention and deepening consciousness of each other. Being more fully present is a form os spiritual discipline quite helpful in marriage. Noticing each others uniqueness and beauty, and serving each others needs are essential parts of marital spirituality.

Married spirituality is rooted in the day to day, in the countless acts of mutual affirmation and acceptance, in days of difficulty and days of joy. It may seem ordinary, but in reality, it is charged with God’s grace and a meaningful sign and symbol of God’s abiding love.

* (Source: 1990 survey by World Values; 2007 survey by Pew Research Center.)