Hispanic Marriage
By Father Fernando Torres
Marriage as an experience in life has different stages: times of novelty and routine, of health and sickness, of understanding and demands, of company and solitude. Marriage does not advance with time, love does not grow with the passing of the days, the family does not become stronger because of the number of children they have and family problems aren't solved keeping silence.
Hispanic couples have to live according to the present reality and can't pretend to solve family problems like they did in the past. Today, we live in a society that seeks equal opportunity for men and women, with the same rights and responsibilities.
In a marriage, no one should be subjected to the other because of money, authority or love. Marriage is mutual devotion, a communion of life, not a possession of a husband or a wife.
We live in a protective society that seeks to maintain children's rights as well as women's rights, to shun domestic violence or any type of abuse.
On the other hand, while there are more rights for the people, there are more dangers that, although very subtle, affect the life of the couple and of the family: a consumer society that not only induces to buy but also to work in situations that go against the dignity of the person, becoming enslaved and breaking them apart from their own home. To believe that everything can be bought or sold makes it hard to make a commitment to be happy. The easy way of divorce, abortion, infidelity, drug use, alcohol and pornography mark the lives of human beings and make them incapable of feeling true love.
Today, spouses need more than ever to pay attention to their marriage. It is not enough to say, "I love you"; they need to learn to live it. It is not enough to accuse the other one for not thinking, feeling or doing something; they need to learn to do it together. It is not enough to give a list of commitments each needs from the other; instead they need to be committed to each other. In conclusion, the couple needs to work on growing stronger, healing their communion and growing as spouses.
The church has much to learn from couples, because the future of the family, the church and society as a whole resides in them.