The sacrament of marriage as a way of salvation

Some people get married only in the registry office, while others, apart from a civil marriage, also marry in the church. Have you ever wondered about this, which prompts these people to marry in the church : custom, family tradition, parents' wish, opinion… ? Or maybe there are some more serious reasons ?

Conjugal love and the love of Christ

Love manifests as a feeling, that connects two people, enlivens them, the poor, it leads to marriage and the founding of a family.
However, this is not the whole truth about conjugal love. The whole truth about the love between a man and a woman is revealed to us by God's revelation. This is what St.. Paul :
,,Husbands, love your wives, for Christ also loved the Church and gave himself up for her, to sanctify it, after cleansing by washing with water, accompanied by the word, to present the Church personally to herself as glorious, free from blemishes or wrinkles, or something similar, but that he may be holy and undefiled. Husbands should love their wives, just like your own body. Who loves his wife, he loves himself. After all, no one ever hates his own body, but everyone nourishes and nurtures them, as is Christ - the Church, for we are members of His Body. Therefore, a man will leave his father and mother, and she will be joined to his wife and the two will be one flesh. It is a great mystery, and I say : in relation to Christ and to the Church " (Ef 5, 25-32).
St.. Paul points to this love, which connects Christ with the Church. This love will never end and it is sacrificial love. Christ died for people out of love for them and united people to himself and to God. He introduced them to the community of love, which the Church creates. Christ present in his Church, always loves him. That is why the revelation calls the Church the Bride of Christ. Christ wanted, that his love, which saves and unites people in the Church, was somehow visible. The marital love of two people is to be a living sign of this love. This is the whole truth about conjugal love in the light of faith.

The sacrament of marriage

The true love of Christian spouses becomes a sign of Christ's love for the Church through the sacrament of Matrimony, which Christ instituted. In this sacrament the spouses meet Christ, and He remains present among them, sanctifies all their lives and makes them capable of carrying out their duties. Through this sacrament, spouses find their proper place in the Church - among the People of God, and receive the charism for the good of their family and the Church.. The spouses promise each other love and fidelity to each other forever. This should be done during Holy Mass., in the presence of the gathered people of God. This is how the relationship comes out, between the sacrament of matrimony and the paschal mystery, which is the source of all Christian love. The spouses, with Christ and through Christ, offer God the Father as a sacrifice their entire married life. By taking part in the Eucharistic Banquet, they are united in a special way in Christ with God and with the whole Church..

Domestic Church

The sacrament of marriage is not a temporary event. The sacramental relationship of the spouses with each other and their relationship with Christ and with the Church is a permanent relationship. The sacrament concluded before the Church continues. Love also lasts, which gave rise to a marriage and family community.
This sacrament seems to consecrate, that is, destines and enables spouses to fulfill their duties (by. KDK 48). The spouses' duties and mission concern themselves, their offspring and other people.
The spouses now live together. They are faithful to each other in good and bad. They give each other love, tenderness, they help each other and exchange thoughts. The sacrament of marriage ennobles the bodily and spiritual expressions of conjugal love. Sanctifies the joint life of the spouses, who are for one another witnesses of Christ's faith and love (by. KK 35), and together they strive for eternal salvation.
A great role in the life of the spouses is played by their joint participation in the Eucharist. Spouses are the first witnesses of Christ's faith and love for their children. They teach them from an early age to love and respect God and people. Living by faith alone, With hope and love, they shape children on a daily basis in imitation of Christ. In this way, their family becomes a school of Christian life. It is therefore a true domestic church, in which Christ lives. He just, who suffered and died for the Church, it calls and enables spouses to bear hardships, sacrifices and sufferings for the good of the domestic Church, what their own family is.
Christian family, according to God's mind, it is a community of love, which reveals to the world the mystery of God's love for all people (by. KDK 48, 52).
There are such families, who experience difficulties that break their unity, and others have already fallen apart. There are also spouses, who doubted love. A truly Christian family can convince them by its attitude and its life, that despite the difficulties, love is possible, that it is worth the effort, to defend marriage and family from decay.
The fidelity of the spouses, their selfless love, efforts, hardships and suffering contribute to the formation of a healthy opinion of marriage and the renewal of the family, which in our time is experiencing a crisis. This attitude and life are a real apostolate, which spreads true love among people and defends and secures it. In this way, the spouses make their family a true domestic church.

How will I answer God ?

You have learned the mystery of the sacrament of marriage as the source of dignity and mission. For marital and family love, especially your parents, you should see in the light of faith. Do you respect all expressions of conjugal love? ?
How you attend the marriage ceremony, especially when it takes place during Holy Mass. ? Consider, does your behavior strengthen, or it relaxes the unity of your parents and the whole family ? Is your impatience, brawls, misunderstandings caused by you, selfishness, they do not destroy love and unity, and thus they do not weaken the apostolic power of your family ? Prayer :
"God, In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you made an everlasting covenant of love with mankind, and you established the sacrament of marriage as a visible sign of love, which connects Christ with the Church, make it happen, please, that we may share in this mystery of love, which means a marriage union ".

■ Think:

1. What does St.. Paul on conjugal love in Ephesians ?

2. What are the essential elements of the marriage sacrament ?

3. Why should the sacrament of marriage be received during Holy Mass?. ?

4. What responsibilities do spouses take to each other ?

5. What tasks do parents undertake towards their children ?

6. What role should a family play in the world by living in the spirit of Christ? ?

■ Remember :

15. What, by Christ's will, is the marriage of baptized people ?
Baptized marriage is a sacrament by Christ's will.

16. What does Christ do in the sacrament of marriage ?
In the sacrament of marriage, Christ includes the love of the spouses in his love for the Church, strengthens their unity, sanctifies them and makes them capable of fulfilling their conjugal and family duties.

17. What is the family as a domestic Church ?
The Christian family, as the domestic church, is a sign of Christ's love in the world.

■ Task :

1. Write, how do you think a wedding should be performed in a Christian family.

2. What should you do, that your family may really be a domestic church ?