Catholic Replies

3 years ago

Editor’s Note: This completes our lessons on the Commandments and Sacraments. We hope that you found them informative and were able to put them to good use. We will have another series, on Apologetics, ready shortly, but in the meantime, we will continue to welcome your questions for the column. Please send them either to the postal mailing address or the email address below.

Special Course On Catholicism And Life — XIV

Matrimony is a sacrament by which a baptized man and woman freely bind themselves together for life in a lawful and fruitful marriage. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved His Church, with the grace to remain united for life, and with the grace to cooperate with God in bringing new life into the world. The union of husband and wife symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, with Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. Matrimony is the only sacrament in which the man and woman confer the sacrament on each other. The priest is there as a witness for the Church that a true marriage took place.

Marriage was instituted by God at the beginning of time when He said that “it is not good for the man [Adam] to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him” (Gen. 2:18). God did not make another man, but rather created a woman named Eve and said, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gen. 2:24). Jesus repeated these words many centuries later (cf. Matt. 19:4-6) and forbade divorce when He said that the man and woman “are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

Our modern culture rejects these words of God and sanctions widespread divorce. It also claims that two men or two women can “marry,” but this is impossible since one of the purposes of marriage is to bring new life into the world, and this can only happen through the union of a man and a woman. Regardless of what some people today think, we must defend the plan of God which envisions marriage as the holy and fruitful union of one man and one woman for life.

Marriage has two purposes: It is to be life-giving and love-giving. It is about babies and bonding, and couples are not to prevent babies from coming into existence by practicing contraception (birth control) or, worse, having a baby in the womb killed by abortion. Couples are also to foster the mutual love and holiness of each other, in other words, to help each other get to Heaven, and never to do anything contrary to God’s plan that would lead the other person into sin. The Sacrament of Matrimony gives couples the grace from God to help them lead holy and fruitful lives and to overcome the problems that arise in most marriages.

Couples promise on their wedding day to be faithful to each other until death, so having a sexual affair with another person, which is called adultery, is a grave sin. Married couples must avoid all occasions of sin — persons or places of temptation — so as to remain faithful to each other. It is a struggle in our world today to follow God’s plan. That’s why we must pray, go to Mass, and receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist to get the help we need from God to live holy lives.

When getting ready to marry, the man and woman should prepare carefully by seeking help and advice from the Bible, from the Church, from their parish priest, from parents, and from other married couples. They should avoid living together before marriage, first, because such an arrangement is sinful, and second, because statistics show that most couples who live together before marriage wind up getting divorced if they do marry. They never really got to know each other because they knew that there was always the escape valve of abandoning the arrangement when things went wrong. When things become difficult in married life, we have God’s grace to help us deal with them.

The key to a strong, vibrant society is strong, vibrant families. We must cooperate with our Creator in making this happen.

List Of Answers

ADULTERY

CHILDREN

DIVORCE

EUCHARIST

FAMILIES

GIVE

GOD

GRACE

LIFE

LOVE

MATRIMONY

PARENTS

PENANCE

SEX

Quiz

Marriage binds a baptized man and woman for ______ in a lawful union.
The sacrament of _____________________ symbolizes the union of Christ and Church.
The purposes of marriage are to bring ____________ into the world and to foster the mutual _______ and holiness of husband and wife.
Christ makes His ____________ available to married couples to help them cooperate with each other in marriage.
The priest doesn’t marry the couple; they ____ the sacrament to each other.
Married couples cooperate with _______ in bringing new life into the world.
Jesus said that marriage is forever, so He forbids ______________.
Jesus said a married person commits _______________ if he or she has an affair or marries someone else while still married to the first person.
Catholics should prepare carefully for marriage by seeking help and advice from God, from their _________, and from a priest.
Couples preparing for marriage should avoid ________ until they are married.
Couples should get ready for marriage by frequently receiving the sacraments of___________________ and the Holy _____________.
The key to a strong, vibrant society is strong, vibrant _____________.