Now I Know What Leads to Greed
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Tis the season for wedding preparations! That means also preparing our souls. A little over a month ago, my fiance and I were choosing readings for our wedding mass. I counted the readings and psalms we had to pick from and it equated to 40 different choices. How interesting, I thought, that there were 40 days worth of readings – similar to the 40 days of Lent – which made me think that maybe there was an element of preparation I needed to do with these readings prior to marriage.
The Holy Spirit then inspired me to devise a 40 Day Marriage Prayer Plan with those readings that would lead right up to our wedding day from the www.foryourmarriage.org website which has all of them organized by Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Gospels. I essentially built a daily plan that linked to each of the readings and shared it with my fiance.
Forty days prior to our wedding we started this plan. My fiance and I have been reading one each day, reflecting and praying on them, and writing one grace or intention we have for the other person that was inspired from that reading. We plan to put all these graces and intentions in a jar, read them on our wedding night, and keep them forever. We may even “bring them to Mary” on our wedding day if the priest allows.
This has truly been a wonderful way to prepare our minds, hearts, and souls for our wedding. Those readings give you much to think about in terms of love, mutual respect, giving of self, and God’s design for marriage.
If you know someone getting married, encourage them to do the same! There’s nothing more important we can do than to prepare our souls for this important vocation with our spouse. And even if you are already married, perhaps this is a great opportunity for you to reconnect spiritually with your spouse and pray for God’s graces in sustaining your marriage.
May the 40 Day Marriage Prayer Plan bring many graces to your marriage!
Katie Zalany lives in Cleveland Ohio. She is a Third Order Secular Franciscan (OFS), spiritual director, benefits/wellness leader, certified health and life coach, and volunteer. She is the creator of the ministry Women in Waiting | Made for Fruitfulness and is a published author. Her writing interests and focus areas include Gospel reflections, Franciscan spirituality, women's spirituality, prayer, and integration of faith and daily living.
