SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY A sacrament of service

RECAPWhat are the Sacraments for?If you have forgotten, the sacraments are directed to salvation.

RECAPWhy salvation?We need to be saved because we cannot save ourselves.Yes, we ought to work* for our salvation but we cannot save ourselves.

THE NECESSITY OF THE CHURCH FOR SALVATION? The Church is not just a social or religious association for the improvement of the world. Sinners are members of the Body of Christ who are sick but must not and cannot remain in this state of sickness and unholiness. That is why we speak of the Sacraments…

CCC1129The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation….

The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Saviour.

WHY WE NEED THE SACRAMENTS?In order to overcome our sinfulness so that we can be more like Christ…

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO…Wake up and realise that programmes do not make the world more human and divine?It is Christ through the Church who makes the world more human and divine.Christ through the Church gives us the Sacraments.

SACRAMENTS OF SERVICE.A question:

What do you think is the Nr One cause of Divorce?

WHAT IS THE NR 1 CAUSE OF DIVORCE? Answer: Marriage. Without marriage there is no divorce?

SACRAMENTS OF SERVICE.There are two of them.They are called the sacraments of service because they directed more to the salvation of others rather than toward the salvation of ourselves.

SACRAMENTS OF SERVICEMarriage is directed toward the salvation of our spouse and children.Holy Orders is directed toward the salvation of members of the Church.

MARRIAGE IN GOD’S PLANMarriage is a natural institution.It takes place amongst even the most primitive cultures.The vocation of marriage is written into the nature of man and woman. CCC1603

MARRIAGE IN GOD’S PLANBut it is not merely a biological union.It is also spiritual… Therefore it is also a great work of God’s grace.

CIC 1055 §1“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 baptised persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament” (CIC, 1055 § 1).

MARRIAGE AS AN IMAGE OF THE TRINITY.In the Trinity, the Father loves the Son, the Son proceeds from the Father and the love between them is the Holy Spirit.In matrimony the man loves his wife, who comes forth from his side (Gen. 2:21-23), and the love between them is manifest as another being, a child.

MARRIAGE IN SACRED SCRIPTUREGenesis 2:24“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body."

MARRIAGE IN SACRED SCRIPTURESin distorted the relationship between man and woman.Vocation to be fruitful and multiply is burdened by pain of childbirth and toil.

MARRIAGE IN SACRED SCRIPTUREVocation of Marriage as a remedy.Not just against concupiscence as it is often stated.Marriage helps to overcome self-absorption, egoism, pursuit of one’s own pleasure, and to open oneself to the other, to mutual aid and to self-giving” (CCC 1609).

MARRIAGE IN SACRED SCRIPTURE.Polygamy and divorce were tolerated in the Old Testament because of the hardness of heart on the part of the Israelites (Matt 19:8)

ANALOGY…God’s relationship with humanity is analogically described in spousal terms.The Incarnation was God wedding Himself to humanity.Hosea describes Israel as wedded to the Lord.Revelation describes the future reward as the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:7).

CCC1613Wedding at Cana was Jesus first miracle.The Church see Cana as confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence.

WOMAN OBEY YOUR MANI am sure this riles up your modern feminist sensitivity.Eph 5:22ff.Wives submit to your husband as to the Lord.

KEYS TO SUBMISSION.Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Eph 5:21).Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself up for her. (Eph 5: 25).Key: gave = sacrifice.

FOR WHAT?Marriage has two goals/ends.It is directed to1. Procreation of children

and the rearing of a family.

2. The mutual good of the spouses.

GOALS…1. Fecundity2. Fidelity

PROCREATIVE AND UNITIVE GOALS OF MARRIAGE Conjugal love requires fidelity by its very nature, as a consequence of the total gift of self, made by the spouses.

PROCREATIVE AND UNITIVE GOALS OF MARRIAGE A deeper reason is to be found in the fidelity of God to His covenant in that of Christ to the Church.

PROCREATIVE AND UNITIVE GOALS OF MARRIAGEThrough the sacrament, the spouses are able to represent this fidelity and witness to it, giving the marital indissolubility a new and deeper meaning. Fidelity is also demanded for the good of the children.

PROCREATIVE?Parody of Procreation.What is procreation?Openness to life.Why?Sacramental function…

PROCREATION AND FECUNDITYFecundity does not end with the simple act of procreation, but extends to the fruits of the moral, spiritual and supernatural life that parents hand on to their children (CCC 1653).

FIDELITY…No divorce?Why?Sacramental function.

ICONIC REPRESENTATION.

Man and womanOutward Sign

Christ and His Church

Inward Grace

CHRIST LOVES THE CHURCHSo much that He laid down His life for His Bride.His love is life giving.This life-giving function of Christ’s love is visible through a couple’s openness to life.Thus, procreation.

NOW YOU UNDERSTANDWhy Adam cannot marry Steve.The relationship is not fecund… no matter what position they use or how they bong till kingdom come!

CONTRACEPTIVES?Frustrates the life-giving function of the sacrament.

HOW IS MARRIAGE CELEBRATED? “According to Latin tradition, the spouses as ministers of Christ's grace mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church” (CCC 1623).

CELEBRATION…This is a unique aspect of Matrimony apart from the other sacraments: that the spouses themselves act as the ministers of the sacrament, which is witnessed and blessed (but not conferred) by the Church.

CELEBRATION The Church defines “free consent” as: not being under constraint (like a “shotgun wedding”) not being impeded by natural* or ecclesiastical law** given by each of the parties, not one only.

CELEBRATIONThis consent is vital to the marriage. If it is not given, there is no marriage.

Consent makes a marriage.

WORK OF MERCYFundamentals 1. The Catholic Church presumes that most marriages, civil or religious, are valid. (See CIC, 1060) 2. Any marriage contracted with even only one Catholic party is subject to Canon Law. (See CIC, 1059) 3. Marriage celebrated by two baptised Christians, even when neither is Catholic, is considered sacramental.

WORK OF MERCY4. Ratum et Consummatum: A marriage that has been ratified and consummated cannot be dissolved. (See CIC, 1141)A marriage is presumed to be consummated after the couple have ratified their marriage and lived with each other unless proven otherwise. (See CIC, 1061 §2)

WORK OF MERCY“For a just cause, the Roman Pontiff can dissolve a non-consummated marriage between baptised persons or between a baptised party and a non-baptised party at the request of both parties or of one of them, even if the other party is unwilling. (CIC, 1142)”

GENERAL STANDARD OF VALIDITYa) First marriage for each partner. b) Any prior marriages have been dissolved by death or have been annulled by a Catholic marriage tribunal. c) In the case of a marriage to a Catholic, all canonical norms were followed in the celebration of the marriage.

MARRIAGES VALIDLY CONTRACTED OUTSIDE RCCThe marriage of a non-Catholic person that is valid prior to a catechumen’s sacramental initiation or candidates full reception remains valid. It is neither necessary nor possible to celebrate any further marriage rite.

MARRIAGES VALIDLY CONTRACTED OUTSIDE RCCa) The sacramental bond that exists between two baptised non-Catholics remains intact when one or both of them are received into full communion.b) The natural bond of marriage that exists between two unbaptised persons continues (in its non-sacramental state) when one of them is baptised.

MARRIAGES VALIDLY CONTRACTED OUTSIDE RCCc) The natural bond of marriage that exists between a baptised Christian and a non-baptised person becomes a sacrament at the moment of the latter’s baptism; so long as marital consent perdures at that time.

MARRIAGES VALIDLY CONTRACTED OUTSIDE RCCd) If two unbaptised persons are married and then both receive baptism their natural bond of marriage becomes sacramental marriage at the moment of baptism; so long as marital consent perdures at that time.

WHAT IS AN ANNULMENT?Annulment: a formal decree that a valid marriage was never a sacramental union.This in no way renders children from that marriage “illegitimate” or “conceived in sin” since the law presumes the presence of the bond until proven otherwise.

INVALIDITY: LACK OF CANONICAL FORMa) Defect of Form: This occurs when one of the party’s being Catholic, and hence bound by the law of the Church, failed to ensure that the proper Catholic form for the marriage existed or was dispensed by just authority.

INVALIDITY: PREVIOUS BONDb) Previous Bond: The candidate or catechumen had been validly married prior to the marriage in question without having that marriage annulled or dissolved. Thus, not first having their prior marriage annulled or dissolved all subsequent marriages are invalid since the previous first marriage bond remains.

INVALIDITY: DEFECT OF CONSENTc) Defect of Consent: This requires an intensive look into the history of the courtship and marriage, so as to determine whether or not one or both parties failed to properly consent to marriage based on some form of a reservation, fear, mental/emotional /psychological issue (See CIC, 1095 §3), immaturity, etc…

IMPEDIMENTS1. Lack of ability or intention to enter a permanent relationship between one man and one woman that is ordered to procreation. (See CIC, 1096, 1099)2. Lack of ability or intention to be faithful to one’s spouse. (See CIC, 1101 §2)

IMPEDIMENTS3. Lack of freedom when entering into the marriage. (See CIC, 1098 & 1103) 4. Lack of complete commitment by placing future conditions or restrictions. (See CIC, 1102 §1-3)

IMPEDIMENTS…Insufficient age: prior to 16 for men, prior to 14 for women Impotence. Note: this is NOT sterility. Impotence is the inability to physically consummate the marriage.Prior Bond/LigamenDisparity of Cult (one Catholic and one unbaptised party)

IMPEDIMENTSHoly OrdersPublic Perpetual Vow of Chastity in a Religious InstituteAbductionCrime (when a person conspires to kill his/her spouse in order to be free to marry again)

IMPEDIMENTSConsanguinity (the couple is too closely related by blood) Affinity (the couple is too closely related by another’s marriage) Public ProprietyAdoption (the couple is too closely related due to an adoption)

TECHNICAL STUFF

Impediments are classified as1. Divine or Natural Law.2. Ecclesiastical Law. Eg: Impediment of Non-Age… It is arises from both Natural Law and also Ecclesiastical Law. Consent requires maturity… And even if maturity is there, still the Church legislates 16 for men and 14 for women.

SUMMARYSacramental system rests on a foundational experience.The Incarnation.

The Word was made Flesh

He is the Image of the unseen God

The IncarnationJohn 1: 14 Colossians 1: 15

Invisible is manifested via the Visible

Word, Unseen God, Inward Grace.

Flesh, Image, Outward Sign

SacramentsOutward sign of Inward Grace

The visible conveys the

invisible

TIMELINECCC 1076: The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the "dispensation of the mystery" the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, "until he comes”.

TIMELINEIn this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls "the sacramental economy"; this is the communication (or "dispensation") of the fruits of Christ's Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church's "sacramental" liturgy.

WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN?How to unpack CCC1076?Jesus Christ: AD1-AD33.What did He do?1. He called them.

ACTIONS OF CHRIST2. He fed them

ACTIONS OF CHRIST3. He strengthened them

ACTIONS OF CHRIST4. He healed them.

ACTIONS OF CHRISTHe forgave them

ACTIONS OF CHRIST6. He sent them

PAST TENSE?Jesus DID all that?What happened after AD33?

IS IT ALL IN THE PAST TENSE?IncarnationJesusWhat He Did?Invisible

Sacrament???????Visible

NOT PAST TENSE BUT PRESENT…Past….InvisibleIncarnationJesusWhat He Did…

Continues in the present.VisibleSacramentChurch (AD33, Pentecost)What He does…Through Apostolic Succession

PAST CONTINUES IN THE PRESENT.CCC 1076: The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the "dispensation of the mystery" the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, "until he comes”.

PAST CONTINUES IN THE PRESENTIn this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls "the sacramental economy"; this is the communication (or "dispensation") of the fruits of Christ's Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church's "sacramental" liturgy.

WHAT HE DOES…If Jesus called…He has not stopped calling.He continues to call through…BAPTISM.

WHAT HE DOES…If Jesus fed...He has not stopped feeding.He continues to feed through…Eucharist.

WHAT HE DOES…If Jesus strengthened…He has not stopped strengtheningHe continues to strengthen through…Confirmation.

WHAT HE DOESIf Jesus forgave…He has not stopped forgiving.He continues to forgive through…Confession.

WHAT HE DOES.If Jesus healed…He has not stopped healing.He continues to heal...Anointing.

WHAT HE DOESIf He sent…He has not stopped sending.He continues to send through1. Holy Orders.2. Matrimony.Some of you fall in between the two.It is not the same as transgender.

NOW YOU UNDERSTANDWhy the Sacraments are important for the Church.Because they make the power of Christ’s Paschal Mystery PRESENT to us for the sake of OUR salvation.Perhaps you understand why we do not simply tinker with the way the Sacraments are celebrated.