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ON MARRIAGE: PRECIOUS VALUE OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY Marriage And The Church       Illumined by the faith that gives her an understanding of all the truth concerning the great value of marriage and the family and their deepest meaning, the Church, once again feels the pressing need to proclaim the Gospel, that is the the "Good News", to all people without expectation, in particular to all those who are called to marriage and are preparing for it, to all married couples and parents in the world.       The Church is deeply convinced that only but the acceptance of the Gospel are the hopes that man legitimately places in marriage and in the family capable of being fulfilled. Willed by God in the very act of creation[2Gen. 1:2] marriage and the family are interiorly ordained to fulfillment in Christ [Eph.5] and have need of his graces in order to be healed from the wounds of sins[Gaudium et Spes, 47; Appropinquat ! and I]; and restored to their "beginning"[Matthew 19:4]; that is, to full understanding and the full realization of God's plan.       At a moment of history in which the family is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it, and aware that the well-being of society and her own good are intimately tied to the good of the family, the Church perceives in a more urgent and compelling way her mission of proclaiming to all the people the plan of God for marriage and the family, ensuring full vitality and human and Christian development, and thus contributing to the renewal of society and of the People of God.[Pope John Paul II Familiaris Consortio, pp. 11-13] Jesus Christ, Bridegroom of the Church and the Sacrament of Matrimony       Receiving and mediating faithfully on the word of God, the Church has solemnly taught and continues tosacramentality of their marriage, spouses are bound to one another in the most profoundly indissoluble manner. Their belonging to each other is the real representation, by means of the sacramental sign, of the very relationship Christ with the Church.       Spouses are therefore the permanent reminder to the Church of what happened on the cross; they are for one another and for the children witnesses to the salvation in which the sacrament makes them sharers. Of this salvation event marriage, like every sacrament, is a memorial, actuation and prophecy: "As a memorial, the sacrament gives them the grace and duty of commemorating the great works of God and of the bearing witness to them before their children. As actuation, it gives them the grace and duty of putting into practice in the present, towards each other and their children, the demands of a love which forgives and redeems. As prophecy, it gives them the grace and duty of living and bearing witness to the hope of the future encounter with Christ."       Like each of the seven sacraments, so also marriage is a real symbol of the event of salvation, but in its own way. "The spouses participate in it as spouses, together as a couple, so that the first and immediate effect of marriage [res et sacramentum] is not supernatural grace itself but the Christian conjugal bond, a typically Christian communion of two persons because it represents the mystery of Christs incarnation and the mystery of his covenant. The content of participation in Christ's lives is also specific: conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter-appeal of the body and instinct , power of feeling and effectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, the unity that is beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; at demands in- dissolubility and faithfullness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love,but with a new signficance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the height of making them the expression of specifically Christian values." Biblical Passages       The Book of Sirach has given advice concerning women: "Be not jealous of the wife of your bosom, lest you teach her to do evil against you. Give no woman power over you to trample- upon your dignity. Be not intimate with a strange woman, lest you fall into her snares. With a singing girl be not familiar, lest you be caught in her viles. Entertain no thoughts against a virgin, lest you be enmeshed in damages for her. Give not yourself to harlots, lest you surrender your inheritance. Gaze not about the lanes of the city and wander not through its squares; Avert your eyes from a comely woman; gaze not upon the beauty of another's wife- Through woman's beauty many perish, for lust for it burns life fire. With a married woman dine not, recline not at table to drink by her side, Lest your heart be drawn to her, and go down in blood to the grave."[Sirach, 9:1-9].       The Book of Sirach distinguishes between good and bad wives. Thus, -"A jealous wife is heartache and mourning and a scourging tongue like the other three. A bad wife is a chafing yoke; He who marries her seizes a scorpion. A drunken wife arouses great anger, for she does not hide her shame. By her eyelids and her haughty stare an unchaste wife can be recognizes. Keep a strict watch over an unruly wife, lest, finding an opportunity, she make use of it; Follow close of her eyes are bold, and be not surprised if she betrays you; As thirsty traveler with eager mouth drinks from any water that he finds, So she settles down before every tent peg and opens her quiver for every arrow [Sirach 26:6-12].       A worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life. A good wife is a generous gift bestowed upon him who fears the Lord; Be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a site is ever on his face [Sirach 26:2-4]. A gracious wife delights her husband, her thoughtfulness put flesh on his bones; A gift from the Lord is her governed speech, and her firm virtue is of surpassing worth. Choices of blessings is a modest wife, priceless her chaste person. LIke the sun rising in the Lord's heavens, the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home. Like the light that shines above the holy lampstand, are her beauty of face and graceful figure. Golden columns on silver vases are her shapely limbs and steady feet.[Sirach 26:13-18].       On the other hand, the Proverbs gives specifications of an "ideal wife." "When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband entrusting his heart to her, has unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful hands. Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from afar. She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to her household. She picks out a field to purchase; out of her earning she plants a vineyard. She is girt about with strength, and sturdy are her arms. She enjoys the success of her dealings, at night her lamp is undimmed. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy, She fears not the snow for her household; all her charges are doubly clothed. She makes her own coverlets; fine linen and purple are her clothing. Her husband is prominent at the city gates as he sits with teh elders of the land. She makes garments and sells them, and tocks the merchants with belts. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs at the days to come. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and on her tongue is kaindly counsel. She watches the conduct of her household, and she eats not her food in idleness; Her children rise up and praise her, her husband, too, extols her; Many are the women of proven worth, but you have excelled them all. Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at he city gates [Proverbs, 27: IX, 10-31].       It is only in Christ that marriage alliance can be safely formed. Human love should draw its closest bonds from divine love. Only where Christ reigns can there be deep, true, unselfish affection. Love is a precious gift, which we receive from Christ. Pure and holy affection is not a feeling, but a principle. Men and women can reach God's ideal for them if they will take Christ as their helper. What human wisdom can not do, His grace will accomplish for those who give themselves to Him in loving trust. Trusting Christ and HisLove prevent therefor addiction.       Praise the Lord! Back | Home | Next

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