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MARRIAGE

MARRIAGE. Increasingly in the developed world research suggests that what most couples are looking for is… a SOUL-MATE. A SOUL-MATE is. someone with whom I can share a deep, intimate, loving relationship and have children. A SOUL-MATE MARRIAGE IS DIFFICULT TO ATTAIN BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

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MARRIAGE

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  1. MARRIAGE

  2. Increasingly in the developed world research suggests that what most couples are looking for is… a SOUL-MATE

  3. A SOUL-MATE is someone with whom I can share a deep, intimate, loving relationship and have children

  4. A SOUL-MATE MARRIAGE IS DIFFICULT TO ATTAINBUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE There is today too much emphasis on happiness as a kind of entitlement, rather than on the hard work needed to sustain a successful marriage But couples who work to improvetheir communication skills are much more likely to stay (happily) married

  5. FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE… All couples experience problems in their relationship. But working through them together brings you closer as a couple, strengthens your relationship and keeps you together.

  6. The soul-mate idea of marriage fits in very well with what the Church says about marriage.

  7. It is… a vocation a covenant a sacrament

  8. A VOCATION That’s a calling from God A COVENANT That’s an unconditional commitment A SACRAMENT That’s a sign of God’s unconditional love

  9. Marriage is GOD’s idea - not ours It’s a VOCATION: a call from God

  10. It’s the call God gave toevery couple fromthe beginning,as this text shows: “It is not good for man to be alone.” “God made them male and female.” “Increase and multiply and fill the earth and make it yours.” So God had two purposes in mind when creating us: COMPANIONSHIP and PROCREATION Each person is called to love. Jesus said: “What GOD has joined together let no man put asunder”

  11. God’s command to love applies to everyone. God calls EVERY couple into a lifelong loving relationship in which He wishes them to experience the joy of companionship. God gives them the tremendous privilege of sharing with Him in the continuing work of creation It’s a call to live in an INTER-dependent relationship

  12. It is normal for every relationship to go through cycles of... ROMANCE, DISILLUSIONMENT and JOY In disillusionment there is a danger that we will revert to our earlier way of living...living like a single person IN-dependent rather than INTER-dependent Living as ‘MARRIED SINGLES’

  13. We don’t have to stay in disillusionment. There is a remedy: to choose to love. TO LOVE IS A DECISION We have a choice We can refuse to share our feelings OR... We can choose to rise above them, with the possibility of once again experiencing the JOY of a close relationship

  14. COVENANTS - both parties make a solemn commitment to a certain course of action and in return receive certain benefits or blessings For Christians, marriage is a covenant of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

  15. God’s covenant love isUNCONDITIONAL He calls us toRESPONDin love Jesus added a new dimension to loving: “Love one another as I have loved you,” He said JESUS’ death on the Cross is THE sign -the greatest evidence of God’sunconditional covenant love for us It has brought countless benefitsto mankind

  16. Each person must freely consent to the marriage There must be no impediments to the marriage. The priest or deacon will explain what this means

  17. There must be no conditions to your consent: e.g. I will marry, but if…or only if… I will marry you as long as… I will marry you unless… If you have made a PRE-MARITAL AGREEMENT the terms of the agreement may amount to conditional consent. If you have any questions about this, ask your priest or deacon

  18. You ‘gift’ yourself to the other and you ‘take’ the gift offered. I promise... “for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health (ourselves or our children), to love and to cherish, till death us do part” I will always be there sharing my love with you

  19. “Thank you for the greatest gift you could give me: YOURSELF. I promise to ‘cherish’ this gift, treat it with love, tenderness and care” “I promise that whatever happens I will never stop loving you. I will never give up on our relationship, until one of us dies”

  20. To live like this means continually ‘dying’ to self for the sake of the relationship. This ‘mirrors’ the way God loves us, and the way Christ showed what loving means by dying on the Cross He laid down his life for his ‘bride’, the Church.

  21. God’s blessings come to us principally through the special signsof His love for us that we Catholics call SACRAMENTS.

  22. God’s blessings come to us principally through the special signsof His love for us that we Catholics call SACRAMENTS. There are seven: baptism, reconciliation, communion, confirmation, holy orders, the sacrament of the sick, and matrimony.

  23. Each sacrament marks a major landmark event in one’s life. Sacraments are SIGNS – signs of God’s covenant love… Through them He shows His concern for us and offers His help (grace)

  24. We believe as Christians that when we speak of ‘God’ we are speaking of three ‘persons’ the Father the Son the Holy Spirit They live in an eternal loving relationship. The love that exists between them is the only love there is. They share this love with us, making it possible for us to love.

  25. The Sacrament of Matrimony provides the help we need to show our love for each other, not just on our wedding day but throughout the rest of our married lives.

  26. You marry each other. The priest or deacon is there as an official witness for the Church. You freely and without reservation BIND yourselves to each other for life. The marriage BOND is forged on your wedding day. But you take each other for better for worse, EVERY day. So you need to INVITE God into your life and ask his help EVERY day.

  27. Catholics seek God’s help through prayer and especially whenthey celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist Jesus makes present, under signs and symbols of bread and wine, his death on the Cross.

  28. We believe this to be the GREATEST EVENT IN HUMAN HISTORY, and in holy communion we join ourselves to it, and draw strength from it. This was the greatest act of love God ever showed towards human beings.

  29. Through marriage you become a SIGN, a sign to the world of God’s love.

  30. Jesus said to his followers: “When two or three of you are ASSEMBLED in my name, I am there in the midst of you.” ‘The Church’ means ‘The Assembly’ So the couple are a ‘Little Church’

  31. So a Christian couple ARE the Church: ‘a little church’ - a community of love.

  32. So the ‘little’ Church becomes a sign to the ‘big’ Church of the reality of God’s love and faithfulness. It is there for all to see in the relationship of this couple. In their love and respect for each other, in their confronting and forgiving of one another, in their faithfulness to each other, a couple BECOME a living tangible ‘sign’ (Sacrament) of the ‘real’ presence of God in the midst of his people, the Church. This is not a pious image. It’s a way of living that challenges and enriches those who seek to live by it in order to make it a reality.

  33. Even when one of the partners is not a Catholic, couples can benefit by attending Mass together - and the church community as a whole also benefits.

  34. Remember that your wedding service is YOUR service. You can select the Scripture readings, choose favourite hymns, even write your own prayers if you wish. Discuss this with the priest or deacon who is conducting the service.

  35. We are now going to role play the Marriage Rite. As you will see it’s a public statement of intent, witnessed by the priest or deacon and the community.

  36. Married Couples sharing Handout: Christian Marriage

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