Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 220



220.  This process occurs in various stages that call for generosity and sacrifice.  The first powerful feelings of attraction give way to the realization that the other is now a part of my life.  The pleasure of belonging to one another leads to seeing life as a common project, putting the other's happiness ahead of my own, and realizing with joy that this marriage enriches society.  As love matures, it also learns to "negotiate".  Far from anything selfish or calculating, such negotiation is an exercise of mutual love, an interplay of give and take, for the good of the family.  At each new stage of married life, there is a need to sit down and renegotiate agreements, so that there will be no winners and losers, but rather two winners.  In the home, decisions cannot be made unilaterally, since each spouse shares responsibility for the family; yet each home is unique and each marriage will find an arrangement that works best.

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