Father Melvin Doucette

Palmer Road North, R.R. 2, Tignish, Prince Edward Island C0B 2B0 Canada

Tuesday, 21 May 2002

ALL YOU MARRIED COUPLES REMAIN CLOSE TO ME

Dear Paul, Rita and Friends,

Greetings and best wishes on this lovely May day. The sun is shining bright although there are a few clouds which are fast disappearing. I think it will be a warm day here today. In my prayer this morning, Jesus spoke about marriage.

This is what he said: "Melvin, my brother, I love you. My heart is sad when I look at the state of marriage in the world today. Couples who marry promise me to live together until death. This is what the Father ordained that a man and a woman would promise to Him and to each other, to love each other and to have children and bring them up as children of God, by teaching them to love God and to avoid evil. Today the situation of marriage is a very poor one. Nearly 50% of marriages are broken. Those couples are no longer living together and often they are living with somebody else. Many married Christians no longer come to me to be instructed on what love is but they listen to what the world is telling them. The world says that love is a feeling and if it is no longer there than there is no love and no marriage. Love is not a feeling, love is an act of the will, it is a commitment. When one marries, he or she pledges to love in good times and bad, in times of good health and sickness, and in times of problems and difficulties. Married couples must learn from me what love is. They are to imitate my love for the Church. I gave my life in great suffering for the Church so they must be ready to suffer at times, if they are to succeed in their marriage. Without me most marriages will fail. Concubinage which is more and more common today goes directly against my will. It is an offense against me. All you married couples remain close to me and your marriage will be strong. Remember forgiveness is necessary for your marriage to succeed. I forgave from the cross those who killed me. I love you all."

Jesus tells us this morning, that He is sad because of the state of marriage today. We hear of people separating almost every day. Those who suffer in the breakup of marriage are above all the children. They need both parents. There are many factors that cause the breakdown of marriages, but most often one hears words like this: "I left him (her) because I don't love him (her) anymore." The idea of love in our culture, is what we hear everyday on the hit parade. Love is given as this good feeling which bubbles up in us. Yes, it is great if we have that feeling but unfortunately we cannot rely on feelings, they come and they go. Love must be based on something deeper than feelings. It must be anchored in the will. It has to be an act of the will, a commitment to God and to the partner. Jesus compared love in marriage to His love for the Church. His love for the Church meant much suffering and at the end death on the cross. He did not love us less because of suffering. Every person has his or her share of suffering in this world. We all go through, to a certain extend, the Pascal Mystery of the Lord, which is His suffering, death, and resurrection. What is important is that we live this mystery with Jesus. Without Him we will fail but with Him we are bound to succeed. Enthrone Jesus in your home and pray together as a family every day. He will come and live with you and the evil one will go out the door. I always tell couples that in a Christian marriage there has to be three people: a man, a woman and Jesus. He is necessary for your love to grow. You need His grace, to carry on when the struggle is great and to avoid evil. Let us remain always close to Him. May the Lord strengthen all faltering marriages and give the couples the grace to work hard to make their marriages a success.

Father Melvin

TEL: (902) 882-2004

E-MAIL: melvin.doucette@pei.sympatico.ca

WEB SITE: http://www.oocities.org/ourladyofpei/index.html

NOTE: FOR FOLLOWING SEND AN EMAIL TO 'RITA' AT: pdoucet@nb.sympatico.ca

TO RECEIVE: Previous Messages, Press Release, Michael Brown's interview.

TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MESSAGES IN SPANISH: Send an email with "SUBSCRIBE-FR DOUCETTE-SPANISH" in the Subject box.