by: Peter Martin, President
“For You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” St. Augustine, in his Confessions, expresses the truth that he was brought to after years of tireless searching. We often feel the same restlessness of our hearts and it is not until we surrender our lives to His tender mercy that we find the peace that we are searching for!
Married Couples who are following St. John Paul II’s Rule for Married Couple Groups have discovered an avenue for that peace and are finding that it affects not only their marital love, but it transforms their family and those around them!
How is it the case that following a simple six-part rule can cause such deep transformation? I believe that it comes down to the shift in focus that St. John Paul II gives us. For those of us in the West, we are offered a very self-centered view of life. The world promises us happiness if we would just focus on ourselves. The proper love of self should not be discounted, but the promise that we can find this rest that St. Augustine refers to leaves us only in frustration unless we have our lives properly ordered.
Living the Rule, couples find that their marital love is not only for themselves. The love that they share, the love that they enjoy, the love that they long for, is not only their love, but it is also the love of the Father! Living the Rule also reminds us that our love is meant to be given away. The love I have for my spouse is not simply a gift that I give to Theresa, but it is a gift to our children and for those around us! Living the Rule teaches us that, even though love is a dying to my own desires, it is only in that death that the sacrifice of love that I offer can truly take root and grow.
Following the Rule orders our lives properly so that we recognize that giving ourselves away in love is truly better than receiving. As we learn to focus on the good of the other instead of the hyper-focus on our own goods, we find the deep peace our hearts were restless for! The soil of our hearts is no longer arid due to the excessive taking and gathering. The world seems to insist that the peace that we long for can be had by an acquisition of the perfect number of things. Following the Rule has taught us to recognize that the peace that we seek has always been present in our lives and by allowing His love to soak into the soil of our hearts, we cannot help but produce fruits of His love.