Renewing the Everlasting “Yes:” Five Years in the Fire of the Spirit
Five years ago, on the 31st of July, we stood before God and one another and said a word that would shape everything: “Yes.” We were younger, lighter, and—if we’re honest—we had no idea what we were promising. Five years, three children, and a thousand ordinary miracles later, we are still saying it. We’ve learned that the “yes” of a wedding day is not a monument you visit once; it is a fire that must be kept burning.
Renewal is, after all, the very work of the Holy Spirit. The Risen Lord breathed on frightened men hiding behind locked doors, and that same breath fell upon them as tongues of fire and turned them into a Church that set the world ablaze. One outpouring, one effect: the Spirit takes what is afraid and unfinished and makes it new—not once, but again and again. He has been doing exactly that in our home, our small domestic church, since the day we became one.
We have written before about the “beautiful chaos” of a full crib and the daily work of loving without a calculator. It was all really about this: a love that refuses to stay frozen in time. When we welcomed our third child, we did not receive a love that competed with our own; we received its fruit—living proof that the “yes” we spoke five years ago was true and is still bearing what God promised it would. As Saint Josemaría reminded us, “Each child that God grants you is a divine blessing: do not fear children!” We don’t—and we ache, quietly and joyfully, for more.
Here is what the world misses. It imagines marriage as a contract that fades, a spark that inevitably dims. Yet Scripture reveals something far greater. Saint Paul tells husbands to love their wives” as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25), He then calls marriage a “great mystery” (Ephesians 5:32) that points to Christ and His Bride. Our marriage is not merely our covenant; it is a living sign of His—the everlasting covenant Christ made with the Church, the one that never expires, never grows cold, and never runs out.
That is why we cannot re-make our sacrament; it was confected once and forever, indissoluble by God’s own design. Even so, we can renew our consent every single day. We renew it when one of us rises for the crying baby so the other can sleep, when we ask forgiveness instead of winning the argument, and when we take over the unglamorous liturgy of lunchboxes and late nights.
Saint Josemaría taught that “marriage is a real supernatural calling”—not a remedy, not an arrangement, but a path to holiness walked two-by-two, with children running underfoot. So, this anniversary, we are not merely remembering July 31st. We are saying “yes” again—to each other, to the next child God may send to the slow, grinning, exhausting adventure of becoming saints together. Make no mistake: to love like this is a risk. We pour out our whole selves with no guarantee it will be returned, no promise that the road will be gentle. The world calls that reckless. We call it courage.
We believe that the only love worth having is the love that holds nothing back—and, that a heart spent entirely for another is never wasted. That is exactly how Christ loved us: all the way to the Cross. We would choose it again, every bit of it. The Spirit who set the Apostles on fire is renewing us still, breathing new life into an old promise.
If your own “yes” feels tired, don’t trade it in. Let the Holy Spirit renew it. Love is not negotiated; it is poured out, and the well is bottomless.
Holy Mary, Mother of the family, who by your own “yes” at the Annunciation welcomed the One who makes all things new, teach us to say our “yes” again each day. Ora pro nobis.
Juan and Sofia were born into Catholic families in Colombia, South America. They met on Juan’s Patron Saint Feast Day, Saint John Bosco, January 31st and recently got married on the 31st of July. Both have encountered Jesus in their lives and decided to follow him with great commitment.
Juan is a Political Scientist and also a great golfer. He works in the Wine and Spirits Industry.
Sofia is a commercial real estate lawyer and works at her family-owned business. They currently live in Cali, Colombia.
Juan and Sofia are increasingly passionate about the apostolic mission with the youth and young professionals. They are committed to showing the love of God and his mysteries through the beauty of the sacrament of marriage and friendship. Both have lived their conversion through different spiritualities within the Church, such as the charismatic renewal, parish groups (Emaus and Effeta), Mana (a self-founded apostolic group) and Opus Dei. This last one is currently where both congregate and receive all their spiritual formation and guidance. Although they have much to learn, they are eager to share their testimony with all the readers.
