Abuja, Nigeria, Jul 30, 2018 / 10:23 am
A thriving and holy marriage depends on choosing a suitable spouse, having realistic expectations for the difficulties of marriage, and understanding the role of God's grace in Christian life, according to a Nigerian bishop.
"You do not choose when and where you are born, you may or may not choose what school you attend, but you alone can choose who your spouse will be. And because this is a critical life decision, it can mar one's life when a wrong choice is made," said Bishop Anselm Umoren, auxiliary bishop in Abuja, at a July ceremony launching a book on marriage written by Henrietta Okechukwa, a counselor in Abuja.
At the ceremony, the bishop noted that "many young people, having observed the tragic situation of marriage and family life today, are giving up hope of ever starting a family. I have heard and seen young people today who say, 'If this is what marriage is, I prefer to remain single'. This seems to be the chorus on the lips of many young people in our society," according to the Catholic News Service of Nigeria.
Those young people who do marry, he said, "go into marriage relationships with skewed values. Many young people want to marry a wealthy partner and are desperately seeking a life of comfort without seeking the values that make for a happy and holy life. They therefore end up mortgaging their lives and exchanging their happiness for the temporary pleasures of life."