“In so many instances in creation, it pleases God to use the instrumentality of one creature to do good to another, especially in the all-important task of leading souls to Himself.”
– Your Vocation of Love by Agnes Penny, p. 155

I remember during our wedding, our priest said that married couples have a major responsibility to help one another to get to Heaven.  This hadn’t struck me with such clarity until I was there, at the altar, in a white dress, and I was so honored to realize I had this opportunity to help my best friend on his way to life with God.

As we settle into married, family life, I recognize ever more occasions to pursue this goal.  There are practical, perhaps obvious things, like saying grace together before meals and the rosary together at night, but there is also the constant opportunity to simply be a good example for one another.  The way we speak to one another, the way we discuss our days and what brought us joy or what frustrated us, even the care we take to dress for Mass on Sundays—in these little things we constantly encourage one another not to be lazy, but rather to be patient, to trust in God.  I know this will be even more important as Jacob gets older as well; we are his first teachers, we set the first example.

There can be a temptation to kind of let it all go at home, but it’s here that we have the greatest responsibility to the people we love the most, the people who have been put in our care.   Whether the people we live with are husbands or wives, mothers or fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, or simply roommates, we have a great and blessed responsibility to them—one that we can hopefully fulfill more readily with the graces we’ve received this Lent.