Last weekend, I attended the Catholic wedding ceremony of my colleague at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Angeles City. It was the second wedding celebration I attended since 2020. The officiating priest was Rev. Fr. Fiel Louie Pareja and the homilist was Rev. Fr. Aljim Tuazon.
In the homily, Fr. Tuazon asked the groom what he is praying for now that he is finally marrying his love, to which the groom answered to have a happy and holy married life. Fr. Aljim then said that this is a fruit which is nourished by the couple from the seeds given by God upon the union of a man and his wife through the sacrament of Matrimony.
Fr. Tuazon shared in his homily that there are three seeds of marriage, and these are fidelity, loyalty, and love. Fidelity is defined as the "faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support." These can be exhibited by staying true and faithful to your partner and putting him or her above anyone or anything else. When a couple becomes blessed with children, each of the spouse must be a good husband or wife in order to become a good father or mother eventually. Being faithful to a partner encompasses all the aspects which include sexually, and emotionally,
The second seed is loyalty, which may be a higher form of fidelity and requires a spouse to demonstrate a high sense of devotion or sentiment of attachment to your partner. Fr. Tuazon exemplified this in the context of the newly married couple saying that the groom leaves his family and joins his bride and must therefore stay with her until death do them part.
And lastly of course, the most important seed is love, which is primarily the reason why a couple decides to be united and become married. Fr. Tuazon noted that a married life has its ups and downs, that's why the ultimate act of love can be best exhibited through the act of forgiving your partner and looking past the mistakes which he or she may have committed. It is the key to a happy and lasting marriage.
Most importantly, a marriage is a three-party union, having God at the center of the marriage, and this is the key to sustaining a happy and holy married life, helping the couple withstand all the tests of time.