Sacrament of Matrimony
One
The Catholic Church recognizes something astonishing about marital love: that it actually communicates to love of God and the power of Heaven from one spouse to another. This is what it means that Matrimony is a Sacrament. Christ Himself is the glue, or more importantly, the covenantal grace that bonds the spouse together in a permanent union. This is what is conveyed in their vows. In living out these vows, the couple grows into the image of Divine Love! Christ’s love is divine, is sacrificial, is life-giving, and is victorious over the devil and his works, and therefore rises from the dead. Thus, marital love contains all of these same qualities. Did you know that your spousal love has these qualities, and that, if lived rightly, will bring your spouse and children to the resurrected life in heaven? And that they have the same power to offer you?
Two
The CCC teaches, that the “matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life”, is by its nature ordered toward
the good of the spouses
1.1 IOW, helping one another into transforming union with God
the procreation and education of offspring;
2.1 IOW, to have and raise children with your example of holiness. (#1601.)
This two-fold purpose of marriage is God-given and defines marriage, giving it its essential meaning. We are not free nor do we have the power to change and redefine marriage as we see fit, as we are not God. Besides, what could give it more meaning than that marriage brings each spouse closer to the Holy Trinity and that it creates life! Whenever man rejects God and God’s plan for things to place himself and his goals in God’s place, the end result is always bad—it places selfishness in the place of selflessness, fleeting instant gratification over everlasting joy, and death and sterility over life and fruitfulness. This is not only a sham inverted on its head, its idolatrous and destroys the covenant with God. Therefore, let us ask God for the conversion of heart for both the People of God and for this Nation to recognize the God-given nature and purpose of marriage so that we can live according to its God-given design.
Three
The Catechism further states, “The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws…God himself is the author of marriage” (1603). Thus, to reiterate, Marriage is not a purely human institution, subject to human caprice.
There is a fundamental connection therefore between Marriage, Family and the Marital Embrace. For those with the vocation from God to marry, we’re called to reflect His Life and Love through this covenant to our spouse, children, and from them to the world. Our vows create this covenant; marital intercourse takes those words and makes them flesh. This is what it means to consummate the marriage. Children can be the fruit of this union, thereby displaying the Divine power of life flowing through this union and building up the home, the Church, and society. This is why the CCC further states, “God who created man out of love also calls him to love – the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute unfailing love with which God loves man.” (1604).
Four
Marriage, and Family life were divinely instituted to be a Reflection of:
The Inner Life of the Trinity, meaning to reflect who and what God is, not just what He does; AND
The love of Christ for the Church
If we want to understand the true nature of Marriage and Family life, then we must understand who God is eternally. St. John tells us in His epistle that, “God is love.” (1 Jn 4:8). God the Father, being All-Good, pours out a total gift of Himself infinitely and eternally into the Son, who receives this infinite gift and pours all back to the Father, in perfect imitation. This mutual gift of self from Father and Son is so real, it, too is a Divine Peron--the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life.
This Triune image is placed in man and woman. When God created Man in HIS IMAGE as male and female, He created this complementarity of the sexes to make visible His invisible mystery of the Trinity. The two become one flesh, and from this unity springs life! The Church’s sexual teachings are controversial because society rejects God’s meaning in marriage, replacing it with selfish desire. Every marital act that is either not marital, not fruitful but willfully sterilized, or that rejects genital and inseminal union, rejects the divine goals placed within the marital act as a means for spouses to reflect Him. Our bodies validate these God-given truths by the fact that we chemically and emotionally bond with the other through physical intimacy, which is why it must be marital. Activity that sterilizes the marital intimacy damages our physical and emotional health. Thus, the moral foundation for these beautiful teachings are corroborated by science. Lord, purify my love of all taint of selfishness.
Five
I reflect the image of God to my spouse, revealing to her the way God wishes to communicate His life and grace through me! Her way to union with God goes through me! I would remind her of this often, but she can just turn around and remind me of the same! This is the extraordinary reality of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Each spouse offers a pathway of grace to the other through all acts of love present in a marriage: sacrifice, service, child-rearing, complimenting, friendship, conversation, and yes, even the marital embrace and intimacy. These are all grace-filled actions. In order to fully appreciate the full possibility of this sacrament, however, each must be baptized; each should be receiving Holy Communion frequently, to include Confession; each should have a daily prayer life that includes meditation; and each should be open to all that Christ asks through His Church of the couple regarding openness to life and child-rearing. A tall order to be sure, but this is why Jesus conveys His grace through this sacrament. Let us ask God to strengthen our fidelity to our spouses and families. This week, pick one family whom you know who struggles with these teachings and needs prayers and include them in your rosary intentions this week, that God may convert their hearts.