Saturday, December 10, 2016

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 132



132.  To opt for marriage in this way expresses a genuine and firm decision to join paths, come what may.  Given its seriousness, this public commitment of love cannot be the fruit of a hasty decision, but neither can it be postponed indefinitely.  Committing oneself exclusively and definitively to another person always involves a risk and a bold gamble.  Unwillingness to make such a commitment is selfish, calculating and petty.  It fails to recognize the rights of another person and to present him or her to society as someone worth of unconditional love.  If two persons are truly in love, they naturally show this to others.  When love is expressed before others in the marriage contract, with all its public commitments, it clearly indicates and protects the "yes" which those persons speak freely and unreservedly to each other.  This "yes" tells them that they can always trust one another, and that they will never be abandoned when difficulties arise or new attractions or selfish interest present themselves.

© LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICANA.