The Significant Other 

   At my wedding there was my wife and myself, but there was also another who took part.  The vows we made were made to God as well as to each other.  Hence, our Lord, Jesus Christ is part of our marriage as well.  He is the significant Other that makes a sacramental marriage what it is supposed to be.  He offers a love which is giving and never demanding, a love that is more concerned with giving joy to one another rather than self.

   When we suffer, whether physically or emotionally, we can easily become depressed, even despondent.  Some go as far as to decide life is no longer worth living and take their own lives.  However there is a significant Other who will share our suffering and our pain.  It is Jesus who suffered far greater that we are likely to ever suffer.  If we turn to Him in our suffering, He will give us peace and comfort amid the suffering.  He will give us the strength to persevere.

   As we grow older our bodies begin to weaken and suffer the pains and difficulties of old age.  We become more conscious of our mortality.  The key to growing old with grace and peace is to again turn to the significant Other in our life, Jesus Christ.  When we trust in Him and the promises He has made we can face leaving this world with confidence that we are journeying to a better world.  One without pain and suffering.  A world filled with love, joy, and total happiness.

   No matter the situation, no matter what is happening in our life Jesus, the significant Other, is there.  He will support us and comfort us in difficult times and give us even greater joy in the good times.  But we must open our hearts and allow Him to enter.  Only then can He give us the blessings He has in store for us; only then will He and the Father come and dwell within us.  Only then can we look forward to eternital life in God's heavenly kingdom.