Feast of Saint Theophanes

Good morning. Familiarity breeds contempt. Well, that’s what they say. And perhaps there is something to that, especially where it involves marriage. Jesus in today’s Gospel notes that familiarity prevents those about Him from opening their hearts and minds to what He has to say. So often we tend to do the same, both with the word of God and in our daily lives with those closest to us. As I have written here in this blog before it is not unusual for married couples to treat complete strangers with more kindness than we do our own life partner. This is likely due to our familiarity and our tendency to become inattentive over time with those closest to us. In the beginning, our goal is to become familiar with one another, as love and closeness are only achievable through becoming familiar with each other. The problem we run into with marriage is that once the conquest of love is accomplished it is quite easy to take one another for granted. The key to not allowing familiarity to breed contempt in the marriage is in making a point to honor one another. To ask ourselves daily “What can I do today for our marriage?” The operative word there is “our.” To keep in mind that it is a partnership for life with our special other. The contempt of familiarity enters in when one or the other doesn’t feel cared for or respected, but when we feel valued we in turn are likely to do things which allow our partner to feel loved and appreciated. The secret to building and maintaining a healthy and joyful life-long marriage is to focus on each other. Make it a point each day to focus on one another. Make a great day!

Today we recall the good life, gifts, and work of Saint Theophanes the Chronographer