Within a Catholic marriage, we are called to begin our journey of perfecting our vocation within the sacrament of Matrimony.

From the moment we take our vows on our wedding day, we have promised to God and our Catholic community that we will continue our journey, the two of us to become one. We initiated that journey during our engagement time as we investigated if this was truly the right person to commit to for life.

Our vocation as a married couple calls us to be united as we give life to each other and to the world. We are called to be life-giving to each other and our community. We are called to love each other as perfectly as we can.

And through that love, we are called to profess God's love for man. Whether it be through the intimate love that we give to each other when we choose to create a family, or the love that we show when we care for family and friends, or when we choose to make the decision to love and forgive each other when it doesn't seem fair or reasonable. These are the times we use the grace of our sacrament to live as Jesus calls us to live.

When we choose to support each other within a marriage, we choose to live out our vocation. When we say to our spouse, "I will support your decision because I know it means a lot to you, even it is difficult for me," it is at those times in our marriage that we choose to be life-giving to each other and we strengthen our vocation.

St. John tells us, "God is love." When two are joined together through marriage, our mission is to bring God's presence to the world by the two of us living out our marital promises. When we journey through the perils of marriage, we bring God's presence to the earth.

This is a married couple's vocation. The daily choices that we make that support each other to love each other as perfectly as we can and continue the journey.

Our vocation, our calling, may take us in many directions. We promised when were married to pray for the openness to listen to God's signs through the challenges that He gives us, which directs us to the mission we are called to each day. Our vocation is to accept those challenges, love each other and share that love with our community.

Candy Metoyer, coordinator of marriage preparation for the archdiocesan Office of Family Life, and her husband Paul have been married for 30 years. Residents of Long Beach, they have five children and eight grandchildren.