CONJUGAL LOVE

Aspect: Marriage

Anchor Verse:
“…complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.”
Philippiians 2:2

The Grace We Seek:

We ask for the grace to grow more in conjugal love, as husband and wife.

Topic:
Marriage is our school of life and love (CCC, 1603), where our wedding is our first day of class towards our
journey of being one flesh (Mark 10:8). This unity opens up opportunities that brings out the best in the both of
us through the act of mutual self-giving.

Regardless of the length of our relationship, marriage requires consistency and persistency. In order to keep
our marriage strong and well-grounded in the face of difficult times, it is important to know and discover who
our spouse really is. When couples are of one mind, heart, and spirit, there is a fighting chance when crisis
strike.

For marriage to strengthen and deepen its bond, couples need to constantly grow in CONJUGAL LOVE. This is
the love between husband and wife, a love sanctified, enriched, and illuminated by the grace of the sacrament
of marriage. Amoris Laetitia describes it as “an ‘effective union’, spiritual and sacrificial, which combines the
warmth of friendship and erotic passion, and endures long after emotions and passion subside” (AL #120). How
do married couples achieve this?

 Strive to grow in conjugal love through a deeper sense of FRIENDSHIP (cf. AL, 123). The more we
accumulate years in our marriage, all the more that we should be encouraged to create activities that
will help nurture and deepen our friendship with each other, giving way to more personal discoveries
about our spouse.

 Strive to grow in conjugal love through genuine JOY (cf. AL, 126). To continue to discover the things
that can give genuine joy to our spouse. Gestures need not be extravagant. Sometimes, true and
genuine joy comes in simple and small packages.

 Strive to grow in conjugal love through WORDS and ACTS (cf. AL, 133). Let us not be stingy in using
these words: “Please”, “Thank you”, and “Sorry”. In fact, Pope Francis encourages us to repeat them
every day. He explains that, “The right words, spoken at the right time, protect and nurture love.” This
love can make us vulnerable and open to our partner, a stepping-stone to get to k now our spouse
better.

 Strive to grow in conjugal love through meaningful DIALOGUE (cf. AL, 137-140). We must work at
communication, making way for a healthy dialogue. Communicating clearly with one another creates a
stronger relationship between husband and wife. During dialogues, we get to discover many things
about each other. The discovery will help us learn to adjust and to be more sensitive to one another.

Getting to know our spouse is a lifetime process. It is not an easy journey, yet at the end of the day, a
harmonious married life requires a lot of ‘getting-to-knows”.

Key Takeaway:
Married life is a continuous process of getting to know each other. Regardless of the length of our relationship
as husband and wife, every day is a challenge for us to know or to discover who our spouse really is. This is
possible through our consistency of having conjugal love for one another.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. Share what is your personal understanding of conjugal love.

2. Which area among these four – friendship, joy, words, and actions, or dialogue – do you need to grow
as a couple?