YOUCAT Lesson 263
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic
youth
263 Why is marriage indissoluble?
Marriage is triply indissoluble: first, because the essence
of love is mutual self-giving without reservation; second, because it is an
image of God’s unconditional faithfulness to his creation; and third, because
it represents Christ’s devotion to his Church, even unto death on the
cross. [1605, 1612-1617, 1661]
At a time when 50 percent of marriages in many places end in
divorce, every marriage that lasts is a great sign—ultimately a sign for
God. On this earth, where so much is
relative, people ought to believe in God, who alone is absolute. That is why everything that is not relative
is so important: (as we find in) someone who speaks the truth absolutely or is
absolutely loyal. Absolute fidelity in
marriage is not so much a human achievement as it is a testimony to the
faithfulness of God, who is there even when we betray or forget him in so many
ways. To be married in the Church means
to rely more on God’s help than on one’s own resources of love.
“Someone who loves a neighbor allows him to be as he is, as
he was, and as he will be.” Michel
Quoist (1921-1997, French priest and author)
“To love a person means to see him
as God intended him.” Fyodor M.
Dostoyevsky (1821-1881
ARTICLE 7
THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
I.
MARRIAGE IN GOD'S PLAN
Marriage in the order of creation
…….1605 Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman
were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be
alone."(Genesis 2:18.)92 The woman, "flesh of his flesh,"
his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a
"helpmate"; she thus represents God from whom comes our help.(Compare Genesis 2:18-25.)93 "Therefore a man leaves his father and
his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh."(Genesis 2:24.)94 The Lord himself shows that this signifies an
unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator
had been "in the beginning": "So they are no longer two, but one
flesh."(Matthew 19:6.)95 –Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
Marriage in the Lord
…….1612
The
nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared the way for the
new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God, by becoming incarnate and
giving his life, has united to himself in a certain way all mankind saved by
him, thus preparing for "the wedding-feast of the Lamb."(Revelation 19:7,9; compare Gaudium
et Sps 22.)104 –CCC
…….1613 On
the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign - at his
mother's request - during a wedding feast.(Compare John 2:1-11.)105 The Church attaches great importance to
Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the
goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an
efficacious sign of Christ's presence. –CCC
1.
…….1614
In
his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of
man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning: permission given by
Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts.(Compare Matthew 19:8.)106 The matrimonial union of man and woman is
indissoluble: God himself has determined it "what therefore God has joined
together, let no man put asunder."(Matthew 19:6.)107 –CCC
…….1615 This
unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have
left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize.
However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too
heavy - heavier than the Law of Moses.(Compare Mark 8:34; Matthew 11:29-30.)108 By coming to restore the original order
of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live
marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God. It is by following Christ,
renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to
"receive" the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help
of Christ.(Compare Matthew 19:11.)109 This
grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ's cross, the source of all
Christian life. –CCC
…….1616 This
is what the Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your
wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might
sanctify her," adding at once: "'For this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.
This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the
Church."(Ephesians 5:25-26,31-32; compare Genesis 2:24.)110 –CCC
…….1617 The
entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the
Church. Already Baptism, the entry into the People of God, is a nuptial
mystery; it is so to speak the nuptial bath.(Compare Ephesians 5:26-27.)111 which precedes the wedding
feast, the Eucharist. Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious
sign, the sacrament of the covenant of Christ and the Church. Since it
signifies and communicates grace, marriage between baptized persons is a true
sacrament of the New Covenant.(Compare Denzinger-Schönmetzer
1800; Codex Iuris Canonici, Can. 1055 § 2.)112 –CCC
…….1661 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 (Compare Council of Trent: Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1799). --CCC
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