Begin with the Prayer of Abandonment.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you’re reading this, it’s likely the day AFTER St. Patrick’s Day. After four days at LARE followed by some extremely aggressive packing in order to get ready to close on our house, I confess blogging slid by the wayside. Which seems apropos, given the topic of the day.

Within marriage pride can take rather unexpected forms. It simply isn’t possible to put on a front with a spouse the way we are sometimes tempted to do with other people. They know us too well – for better or for worse.

On the other hand, pride can take particularly onerous forms within marriage, when the needs and vulnerabilities of a spouse are passed over in favor of my agenda, my preferences, my needs. It’s the scapegoating of a spouse over something for which they were not entirely at fault. The joke at their expense to entertain at a family gathering. The delegation of a task I am simply unwilling to do. Is this love? Or pride in another form?

Lord, help me to recognize these prideful impulses for what they are, and to route them out like St Patrick chased those snakes out of Ireland!