The Catholic Church calls couples to relationships that are lifelong, faithful, & open to life.
We believe that security, stability, and long-lasting love result from commitment & trust.
Christian Marriage is a promise to love & honor. Life-long commitment cannot be "practiced".
God's Vision for Marriage
At the beginning of creation, God made them male and female; for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two shall become as one. They are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore let no man separate what God has joined
- Mk 10: 6-9, NAB
Leave
- Stop being dependent on parents and siblings
- Assert mature individuality
- Move toward interdependence with your spouse
- Establish your own family unit
Become as One
- Melded together in love
- Total commitment
- Sacrifice selfish preferences for the other's good
One Flesh
- Joined mentally, spiritually and emotionally
- Physical, sexual union
Holy Matrimony
In Scripture and Tradition
Catholic Tradition sees the love, commitment and fruitfulness of marriage as living signs of Jesus' covenant with his Church.
In Scripture:
" 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cling to his wife, and the two shall be made into one.' This is a great foreshadowing; I mean that it refers to Christ and his Church. In any case, each one should love his wife as he loves himself, the wife for her part showing respect for her husband."
- Ephesians 5:31-33, NAB
"You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support . . . . You said, 'It is not good for a man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself' . . . . Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age."
- Tobit 8:6-7 NAB
"Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it."
- Psalm 127:1a, NAB
In Canon Law:
Marriage must be indissoluble and monogamous (cf. Code of Canon Law, 1056).
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 and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
- Code of Canon Law, 1055 § 1; cf. GS48 § 1; CCC, 1601
In Documents of Vatican II:
"God himself is the author of marriage and has endowed it with various benefits and with various ends in view; all of these have a very important bearing on the continuation of the human race, on the personal development and eternal destiny of every member of the family, in the dignity, stability, peace, and prosperity of the family and of the whole human race.
By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory. Thus the man and woman, who 'are no longer two but one' (Mt. 19:6), help and serve each other by their marriage partnership; they become conscious of their unity and experience it more deeply from day to day.
"The intimate union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the children demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable unity between them."
- Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 48
In US Bishops' Pastoral Documents:
"God, in creating every woman and man as a totally distinct and different person, nevertheless, wishes those who enter marriage to become one in body and spirit, likewise bonded by an absolute love for each other. The divine love of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is unconditional, committed, irrevocable, and exclusive or faithful; God's plan is that human marital love will be the same."
- Faithful to Each Other For Ever, NCCB/USCC, 1989
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"The covenant which spouses have freely entered into entails faithful love. It imposes on them the obligation to keep their marriage indissoluble."
- CCC, 2397
"(Jesus) 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."
- CCC 1615; cf. Mt. 19:11
In Papal Encyclical Letters:
"Marriage between two baptized persons is a real symbol of the union of Christ and the church, which is not a temporary or "trial" union, but one which is eternally faithful."
- Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 80, 1984
"Married love is first of all fully human, that is to say, of the senses and of the spirit at the same time . . . .
It is not then a simple transport of instinct and sentiment, but also and principally an act of free will, intended to endure and grow by means of the joys and sorrows of daily life, in such a way that husband and wife become one only heart and one only soul, and together attain their human perfection."
- Humanae Vitae, 9
