Marriage
God created man and woman out of love and commanded them to imitate his love in their relations with each other. Man and woman were created for each other…Woman and man are equal in human dignity, and in marriage both are united in an unbreakable bond. (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Ch. 21, p. 279)
What Does it Mean to Say Marriage is a Sacrament?
The Church looks on marriage as a “covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life” (Catechism 1601). In the Sacrament of Matrimony, the married couple become, in their unity and in their love for one another, “an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence” (Catechism 1613).
Marriage is a sacrament through which we encounter Christ and, through grace, we can love as he does. The grace of the sacrament enables us to love more deeply than we can by our own power. Only with Jesus’ help can we fulfill his commandment “love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) This is why the Church calls married couples to receive the Sacrament of Marriage, so that they might receive this help.
Once we understand the meaning of the Sacrament of Matrimony (also referred to as Marriage), it becomes easier to understand why the Church goes to so much trouble to help couples receive the sacrament. It changes everything for a married couple. It transforms a contract between two people into what Archbishop Sartain describes as "a way of discipleship and conversion."
For more information contact Helen Oesterle, Pastoral Associate,
206-322-5970, x602;
hoesterle@icseattle.org
