The sacrament of marriage is a visible sign of God’s love for the Church. When a man and a woman are married in the Church, they receive the grace needed for a lifelong bond of unity.
Marriage is a Vocation - Ordered to Family
"...the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him...," (Gen 2:18) "
male
and
female
He created them" (Gen 21:27b). From the beginning of creation, God had a plan and a design for man and woman to come together to live in a communion of love that reflect the love of the Most Holy Trinity to the world. God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply," revealing that the nature of this union between man and woman is always to include openness to life, so that should God wish to bless them with children, they ought to receive them in accord with His will. For this reason, as God made it, marriage is always ordered toward family, and therefore must be discerned as a vocation, or calling from God, to see if this is God's will for a man and woman.
Though some persons are called by God to this particular way of life (marriage), it does not mean all persons are supposed to be married. For this reason, the Church spends a period of time in preparing a couple for marriage so they can further discern the voice of God with greater clarity calling man and woman together.
Marriage is a Covenant - a Sacrament - Leads to Heaven
The Sacrament of Marriage is a covenantal union in the image of the covenants between God and his people with Abraham and later with Moses at Mt. Sinai, and most fully realized in the new covenant of the Eucharist in which Jesus Christ fully gives Himself to His bride and for His bride, the Church. This covenant of marriage into which man and woman enter can not be broken except by the death of one of the spouses ("What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder" Mt 19:6). In this way, marriage is a union that bonds spouses together during their
entire lifetime.
The sacrament
of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life. (CCC 1661)
The love in a married relationship is exemplified in the total gift of one’s self to another. It’s this self-giving and self-sacrificing love that we see in our other model of marriage, the relationship between Christ and the Church. This love is manifest in that each spouse is willing to do anything and give everything for the good of the other, as Christ did. As Christ gave His all to lead us unto life eternal in heaven, so the vocation of marriage is the calling from God that spouses are to lead each other and work together on the way to eternal life. Failure of the spouses to lead and help each other unto heaven in accord with the commandments of God is a failure to understand the ultimate end of marriage, which is the ultimate end of every Christian vocation, eternal life in heaven.
Seeking to Get Married - What is Required?
A process of preparation is required to receive the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. You need to make an appointment with the pastor at least 6 months prior to getting married. This provides sufficient time for all the necessary paperwork to be completed, for the couple to take instructional classes on the nature and meaning of marriage, and for them to complete the final discernment process to assure this is truly God's call. For questions or to set up an appointment please call the parish office. 575-763-4445
