Around here we have a Momarchy.
(Sorry—I couldn’t help it. That’s one of my family’s long-standing jokes. This is a lovely article; definitely food for thought.)
The Magazine and Daily Blog of Catholic Living
Faith & Family Live is where everyday moms offer one another inspiration, support, and
encouragement in Catholic living. Anyone grappling with the meaning of life or the cleaning of laundry is
welcome here. Read the blog, check out our magazine, join our community, learn more
about our mission, and come on in! READ MORE
Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!
Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is Editorial Director of Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom (Pauline 2005) and Mom to Mom, Day to Day: Advice and Support for Catholic Living (Pauline 2007). Though she once struggled to separate her life …
Read My Posts
Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and together they are the parents of five lively boys. Besides being a mom, she is also a writer and a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has maintained her personal blog at Testosterhome.net where she …
Read My Posts
Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, a Catholic web site focusing on the Catholic faith, Catholic parenting and family life, and Catholic cultural topics. Most recently she has authored The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also employed as webmaster for her parish web sites. …
Read My Posts
Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their young children Camilla and Blaise. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is ABC Family. …
Read My Posts
Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
Read My Posts
Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is the managing editor of Faith & Family magazine. She is (yikes!) an almost 30 year-old, single lady, living in Connecticut with her two cousins in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law …
Read My Posts
Hallie Lord
Hallie Lord married her dashing husband, Dan, in the fall of 2001 (the same year, coincidentally, that she joyfully converted to the Catholic faith). They now happily reside in the deep South with their two energetic boys and two very sassy girls. In her *ample* spare time, Hallie enjoys cheap wine, …
Read My Posts
Fr John Bartunek, LC, STL, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and …
Read My Posts
Melissa Wiley
Melissa Wiley is a homeschooling mother of six and the author of The Martha Years and The Charlotte Years, two series of books about the ancestors of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She blogs about children’s books, family, and home education at Here in the Bonny Glen.
Read My Posts
advice | coffee talk | discussion | parenting | christmas | lent | prayer | books | family | children | moms | recipes | podcast | encouragement | love | cleaning | babies | sharing | education | learning | relationships | saints | housekeeping | links | couples | humor | fertility | small successes | traditions | homeschool | art | school | food | giveaway | marriage | pregnancy | television | sex | casual fridays | nfp | saints of christmas | technology | joy | tips | fun | pro-life | videos | laundry | new media | support | fashion | faith | blogging | resolutions | career | video | cooking | photos | super bowl | time management | charity | haiti | winter | kids | jesus | priests | clothing | questions | shopping | toddlers | style | new years | women | benedict xvi | teens | beauty | work | spouse | advent | mass | gifts | modesty | book | music | preferences | clutter | homemade | forgiveness | reading | ideas | mary | vegetables | dinner | presents | spirituality | sports | fasting | grace | breakfast | facebook |
by Dan Burke in Marriage on Friday, November 06, 2009 6:00 AM
Though monarchies are rare these days, my wife is actually the daughter of a very wealthy King.
One of the great benefits of this relationship is that he has expressed in no uncertain terms that he loves me and my family and that we will always be welcome in his care. The challenge is that he is also a very powerful King. Though he is benevolent and kind, I do live with an extra sense of caution regarding how I treat my wife. I know that her father is always aware of how his daughter is feeling about our relationship.
In order to properly and consistently remind myself of who’s daughter I married, I often address her as “Daughter of the King” or “DOTK” for short (especially when we correspond via e-mail). This reminds her that I hold her in proper high esteem. It also reminds me that she is not just another woman, but that she is of noble stock and is worthy to be treated as such.
Her Father, her lineage, the image of the King she bears in her person, and her lofty position with the King, helps me to be ever aware of the need to treat her like the princess she truly is.
No Earthly King
As you might suspect, I am not speaking here of a mere earthly King, but of the great King of the Universe; the one who created and sustains all life, all matter, all being, heaven, and hell. Even more daunting is the fact that this King—who truly does know my every thought, intent, and action toward my spouse—can effortlessly and at any moment withdraw the gift of life and bring me face to face with my final judgment.
Now, it is important to note that I love my wife deeply, and am highly motivated by that love; she is an incredible woman and obviously designed by God specifically for me. However, my higher motivation, the one that transcends all earthly and temporal impulse, is to honor the King of Kings; to conform every aspect of my life to Christ, who condescended to become man, lived a perfect life, suffered, and was crucified on my behalf.
In the Image of God
Husband or wife, both are made in the image of God. Both, as St. Peter says, are of noble stock, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” The one whom God has entrusted each of us in marriage is a precious gift in God’s sight. The care of their souls is as serious a charge as one can ever receive in life. This most holy responsibility between man and woman must have as its foundation a total self-giving to one who is of royal lineage, and for whom the King has shed his own blood.
Do you see your spouse as a precious child of the King of Kings? Acquiring and living this vision of who we really are is the beginning of the necessary love and reverence required to launch us into the high calling of helping our spouses to heaven.
Seek Him – Find Him – Follow Him – Together.
—Dan Burke and his wife Stephanie are parents of four children. Dan is executive director of Circle Media (publisher of Faith & Family). This article is second in a series of marriage articles to appear at Catholic Spiritual Direction.
Page 1 of 1 pages
This was a good reminder on how I view my hubs, who is certainly a Son of the King. I linked to this on my weekly roundup, post is here. Thanks!!
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.