2-21 Matrimony

In the Week Ahead...

Our Questions

Why bother with marriage? most marriages break up anyway!

What to read

Chapter 21 US CATHOLIC CATECHISM FOR ADULTS pp. 277-292

In Your Bible

Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18-25

Song of Songs 8:6-7

Hosea 2:21

Matthew 19:3-6

Mark 10:9

John 2:1-11

1 Cor 7:10-11

Ephesians 5:25-32

Glossary

Annulment =

Divorce =

Checking my Understanding

do the self-correcting on-line quiz <Quiz 21>

Catholic Practice

Good Pope John XXIII introduced the practice of spouses kissing the wedding bands of their partners as a renewal of the vows they took when they were married.

Going Deeper

Can you mention one thing that you could have done early in your marriage to make it more fulfilling? How do you see sharing one faith as helping in your family?

Branching Out

Additional Reading

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH #1601-1666

Catholic Updates

Videos

Shadowlands (1993) After Debra Winger has passed away. Anthony Hopkins is sitting in the attic w/her son and they begin talking about their feelings. The boy has some powerful feelings as he shares that he doesn't believe in God anymore. Anthony Hopkins gives him permission to feel that way and the scene ends w/both of them sharing how much they miss her and end up crying together over their loss.

Ordet (1959)

Steel Magnolias (1989) M'Lynn (Sally Fields) is burying her daughter Shelby who dies at the age of 27 years old and leaves a young child. M'Lynn, At the cemetery, Her friend Annelle (Daryl Hannah) tries to comfort her with the words, "Shelby is with her King now." M'Lynn's anger explodes as she shouts, "I understand that in my head, but would somebody please explain it to my heart!"

Forrest Gump (1987) Throughout the movie Forrest holds a deep love for Jenny, in spite of her flaws and her trysts with others. In the end, Forrest's love prevails and the two come together in marriage, with Forrest caring for her as she dies.

Music

May God Bless You

Wherever You Go

Supplementary

Marriage as a Sacrament

Throughout the whole of Scripture, there are ongoing references to the reality of marriage. Marriage is a covenant in which a man and a woman establish a partnership that embraces their whole lives. This covenant is a commitment to the good of the spouses as well as the procreation and education of children. When baptized persons exchange this covenant of commitment in marriage, it is a sacrament of the Church. Marriage is part of the order of creation. Marriage also experiences the result of sin which prompts spouses to seek God's help in living out the marriage covenant in a life giving way. Scripture provides powerful images for the marriage relationship - the nuptial covenant between God and Israel, the spousal love of Christ and the Church.

Minister of the Sacrament

In the Latin Rite, marriage takes place between two baptized members of the Church during the celebration of the Eucharist. The spouses in the Latin Church are the ministers of Christ's grace and "confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1623)

Requirements

Essential to the marriage covenant is the freedom of both the man and woman to express their consent to the covenant. Such freedom excludes force or constraint of any kind as well as the absence of any natural or ecclesiastical impediments. No marriage takes place if such free consent is not present. Without free consent, the marriage is invalid. Marriage is an ecclesial reality in which the priest or deacon receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church in the framework of a public liturgical celebration.

Interfaith Marriages

In today's world, marriage often takes place between a baptized Catholic and a baptized person of another faith tradition or a person who has never been baptized. It is important that in such situations spouses become aware of the challenges involved in what is termed a "Mixed Marriage." Permission or a dispensation is given to the Catholic party for entrance into a "Mixed Marriage" with the understanding that both parties know the purpose of marriage and the Catholic party agrees to the baptism and education of children in the Catholic Church to the best of his or her ability. In such situations, it is important to "to help such couples live out their particular situation in the light of faith, overcome the tensions between the couple's obligations to each other and to their ecclesial communities, and encourage the flowering of what is common to them in faith and respect for what separates them. " (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1636)

Effects of Marriage

"From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the spouses are strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the dignity of their state by a special sacrament. " -(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1638)

Essential elements of marriage are

• fidelity,
• indissolubility
• an openness to fertility.

Defects of Marriage

Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love. Despite the commitment that spouses make to a lifetime fidelity, situations do arise where it becomes impossible for a couple to continue living together. The Church does allow for a separation, and even a divorce for civil reasons. However, the Church does not recognize a new union as valid if the first marriage was valid. A civil remarriage creates a situation which contradicts God's law and excludes people from the Eucharist. However, pastors and the whole community must have a solicitude for divorced and remarried persons and their families. In living out the marriage covenant and the marriage sacrament, spouses need to recognize the presence of God's grace which helps them to achieve holiness in their marriage. Such grace is especially present to couples as they respond to the fundamental task of marriage and family which is to be at the service of life.