A closer look at Christian love and the Sacrament of Marriage
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
In holy Scripture, we find evidence of the authentic nature of love and its awesome power. As St. John reminds us, “everyone who loves is begotten of God… for God is love.”
The Church recognizes one of the highest expressions of human love in the Sacrament of Marriage. In our current time in history, the very definition of marriage is threatened to be broadened beyond what we have always believed it and known it to be both as a Church and a society.
In order for a marriage to be a recognized and blessed as a sacrament, one of the necessary components is that it must be between one man and one woman. Another necessary component is that the marriage must be open to having children. The Church’s understanding of marriage can be summed up in this way: “Marriage, as a Christian sacrament, is a lifelong and faithful union of a man and a woman mutually committed to sharing their life and love together. Modeled after and strengthened by God’s own love for his people, it is an intimate partnership in which each person gives the other freedom to grow and which is directed toward bearing fruit.”
Not all couples are able to have children, but all couples can bear fruit of some kind for God’s world, for love, by its very nature, expands outwards. Christian married love should be directed outside itself toward others. Raising children is the usual and natural expression of fruitfulness in marriage. But it is not about numbers – there can be loving large families, loving small families and loving childless couples. However, Christian marriage can never be truly sacramental without being open to the possibility of bringing forth children into the world.
Our bishops have stated that, “Only within marriage does a couple fully symbolize the Creator’s dual design, as an act of covenant love: with the potential of co-creating new human life.” This is why the Church will never recognize homosexual marriage. Only a man and a woman can conceive a child naturally.
Homosexuality is surely one of the ‘hot button’ or ‘red flag’ issues in Church and society today. In the intense struggle to achieve equal rights, which is something that can be respected, there has been confusion as to what marriage really is. Clearly, we as a Church can never condone discrimination, intolerance or hatred in any form toward any person or group, yet at the same time we must protect and defend what we believe to be sacred and true.
Mindful of the inherent and abiding dignity of every human person, the Catholic bishops reaffirm that homosexual persons, like everyone else, should not suffer from prejudice against their basic human rights. They have a right to respect, friendship and justice. They should have an active role in the Christian community. The Catechism states: “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard (homosexuals) should be avoided.”
And in an even more powerful statement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – written by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI – “It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church’s pastors wherever it occurs.”
How do we know when love is real? This may be a bit difficult, for we cannot see into people’s hearts that easily. I think the best description of authentic love comes from St. Paul in 1 Cor. 12-13. This kind of love can be shared with anyone, since it is not about sex. We can love others with this wonderful love in our families or circles of friends, despite gender or any other factors. This kind of love, hopefully, is present in marriage, with the added dimension of shared sexuality and procreation.
Marriage is much easier to define than love. Marriage is what it is for very good reasons. The Catholic Church has never recognized any civil marriage as a sacrament. The language of civil unions and other definitions may work much better to provide a less difficult battle for those who seek equal human rights without infringing upon the very definition of marriage, the life covenant which we deem so very sacred that we call it a sacrament.
Above all, we must remember that we are all called to a Higher Love. Love is the key – as Jesus says: “The commandment I give you is this: that you love one another.”
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In holy Scripture, we find evidence of the authentic nature of love and its awesome power. As St. John reminds us, “everyone who loves is begotten of God… for God is love.”
The Church recognizes one of the highest expressions of human love in the Sacrament of Marriage. In our current time in history, the very definition of marriage is threatened to be broadened beyond what we have always believed it and known it to be both as a Church and a society.
In order for a marriage to be a recognized and blessed as a sacrament, one of the necessary components is that it must be between one man and one woman. Another necessary component is that the marriage must be open to having children. The Church’s understanding of marriage can be summed up in this way: “Marriage, as a Christian sacrament, is a lifelong and faithful union of a man and a woman mutually committed to sharing their life and love together. Modeled after and strengthened by God’s own love for his people, it is an intimate partnership in which each person gives the other freedom to grow and which is directed toward bearing fruit.”
Not all couples are able to have children, but all couples can bear fruit of some kind for God’s world, for love, by its very nature, expands outwards. Christian married love should be directed outside itself toward others. Raising children is the usual and natural expression of fruitfulness in marriage. But it is not about numbers – there can be loving large families, loving small families and loving childless couples. However, Christian marriage can never be truly sacramental without being open to the possibility of bringing forth children into the world.
Our bishops have stated that, “Only within marriage does a couple fully symbolize the Creator’s dual design, as an act of covenant love: with the potential of co-creating new human life.” This is why the Church will never recognize homosexual marriage. Only a man and a woman can conceive a child naturally.
Homosexuality is surely one of the ‘hot button’ or ‘red flag’ issues in Church and society today. In the intense struggle to achieve equal rights, which is something that can be respected, there has been confusion as to what marriage really is. Clearly, we as a Church can never condone discrimination, intolerance or hatred in any form toward any person or group, yet at the same time we must protect and defend what we believe to be sacred and true.
Mindful of the inherent and abiding dignity of every human person, the Catholic bishops reaffirm that homosexual persons, like everyone else, should not suffer from prejudice against their basic human rights. They have a right to respect, friendship and justice. They should have an active role in the Christian community. The Catechism states: “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard (homosexuals) should be avoided.”
And in an even more powerful statement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – written by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI – “It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church’s pastors wherever it occurs.”
How do we know when love is real? This may be a bit difficult, for we cannot see into people’s hearts that easily. I think the best description of authentic love comes from St. Paul in 1 Cor. 12-13. This kind of love can be shared with anyone, since it is not about sex. We can love others with this wonderful love in our families or circles of friends, despite gender or any other factors. This kind of love, hopefully, is present in marriage, with the added dimension of shared sexuality and procreation.
Marriage is much easier to define than love. Marriage is what it is for very good reasons. The Catholic Church has never recognized any civil marriage as a sacrament. The language of civil unions and other definitions may work much better to provide a less difficult battle for those who seek equal human rights without infringing upon the very definition of marriage, the life covenant which we deem so very sacred that we call it a sacrament.
Above all, we must remember that we are all called to a Higher Love. Love is the key – as Jesus says: “The commandment I give you is this: that you love one another.”
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