Catechumenate Topic: Marriage

Catechumenate Topic: Marriage

Marriage is a covenant whereby a man and woman give themselves to the other in partnership for their whole life, it is ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children. Christ has raised this act to the dignity of a sacrament. Marriage is a covenant not a contract.

It is not good for Man to be alone. So God created them both male and female, by our very nature we are inclined to marriage. God is the author of marriage. Scripture begins with the creation on Man and Woman in marriage, and ends with the wedding feast of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

Because of sin we are unable to achieve the degree of unity desired for us in our marriages. Special grace is needed to heal us and make us capable of that type of unity and love and that is why Christ made marriage a sacrament.

Christ teaches that Moses’ concession to divorce was due to man’s hardness of heart, but it was not so in the beginning. What God places together should not be separated.

The faithful marriage is an image of the union of Christ’s faithfulness to the Church. The call to marriage is given by Christ.

It is appropriate to receive the sacrament of reconciliation prior to receiving the sacrament of marriage.

Both parties must consent to the marriage for it to be a sacrament. This means that both parties must understand what they are giving consent to, are not under constraint, and are not impeded by natural or ecclesiastical law. Both must have free will, and be free of fear.

Only one party needs to be Catholic, but both must agree to be open to children, and to raise them in the Catholic Faith. To open to children means to not oppose the conception of children except for grave reasons.

The union of marriage is sealed by God, and as such is indissoluble and the two become one. As such they must remain faithful to this union.Marriage has two great benefits. The first is the unity that is created between two people. A deep bridging love that is alight in this dark world. The second is the gift of children which is a gift to the parents and also a gift to the whole world.

A family is the smallest unit of the Church and of society, and as such must be respected and promoted and defended and encouraged in virtue.

A sacramental marriage cannot be undone, a divorce is not possible. If the sacrament was not valid, if the consent was not full, or the will impaired, the Church can declare the marriage was never valid to begin with. This is called an annulment.