But it need not be so, friends.
It would not be so, if married people would take the advice which the
Prayer Book gives them, and come to Holy communion. Would to God, my
friends, that all married people would understand what that Holy
communion says to them; and come together Sunday after Sunday to that
throne of grace, there to receive of Christ's fulness, and grace upon
grace. For that Table says to you: You are heirs together of the grace
of life; you are not meant merely to feed together for a few short years,
at the same table, on the bread which perishes, but to feed for ever
together on the bread which comes down from heaven, even on Christ
Himself, the life of the world; to receive life from His life, that you
may live together such a life as He lived, and lives still; to receive
grace from the fulness of His grace, that you may be full of grace as He
is. That Table tells you that because you both must live by the same
life of Christ, you must live the same life as each other, and grow more
and more like each other year by year; that as you both receive the same
grace of Christ, you will become more and more gracious to each other
year by year, and both grow together, nearer and dearer to each other,
more worthy of each other's respect, more worthy of each other's trust,
more worthy of each other's love.
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