In Christian marriage,
spouses model the love and
self-gift of Christ. By giving
of themselves and serving
one another, their family, and
community, they help one
another live out Christ’s call
to discipleship, love, and
service. Marriage provides
a foundation for a family
committed to community,
solidarity, and Jesus’ mission
in the world.
The love between spouses in
marriage reflects the love of
Christ for the Church.
The mutual love of spouses reflects God’s own
love for humanity (Catechism of the Catholic
Church [CCC], no. 1604). In Scripture,
God’s “communion of love” with his people
is seen in the covenant he forms with them,
as well as in Jesus’ self-offering on the Cross.
The covenant of love into which spouses enter
in marriage reflects the love of Christ for the
Church and his self-gift on behalf of humanity
(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the
Church [Compendium], no. 219).
Marriage reflects the communion
and union of the Trinity.
During the Rite of Marriage, the couple
exchanges rings as a sign of love and fidelity
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Like the members of the Trinity, the
united couple also becomes a “community of
persons.” Just as the Father, Son, and Spirit
are united in “pure relationality,” mutual love,
and self-gift (Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in
Veritate [Charity in Truth], no. 54), Christian
spouses are called to give of themselves to
one another (Pope John Paul II, Familiaris
Consortio [On the Family], no. 19).
Marriage frees us for
sacrifice and self-gift.
During the exchange of vows, the couple
promises to give of themselves to each other
and to love and support each other despite
their shortcomings and failings. Spouses help
each another “overcome self-absorption,
egoism, [and] pursuit of one’s own pleasure”
so that they can serve others in imitation of
Christ (CCC, no. 1609; Compendium, no.
219). With Christ’s help, spouses are able to
love, forgive, and serve (CCC, no. 1642).
The Nuptial Blessing especially highlights how
the couple is called to care not only for each
another but also for children, family, and the
wider community.
Marriage strengthens us for
service in the world.
The love between spouses helps them
to be signs of Christ’s love in the world
(Compendium, no. 220). Their love for one
another is realized in “the common work of
watching over creation” (CCC, no. 1604).
They help each other live their vocation as
lay people, seeking God’s Kingdom in their
daily lives by working for justice, peace,
and respect for the life and dignity of all
(Compendium, no. 220; Familiaris Consortio,
no. 47). Christian spouses, the Compendium
notes, are to be “witnesses to a new social
consciousness inspired by the Gospel and the
Paschal Mystery” (no. 220).
Marriage provides the
foundation for family and the
formation of “new citizens of
human society.”
From marriage comes the family, “in
which new citizens of human society
are born” and made children of God
through the grace of the Holy Spirit in
Baptism (Lumen Gentium [Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church], no. 11).
The home is called the “domestic
church” (CCC, no. 1666)—the place
where parents teach faith, love, justice,
and concern for others to their children.
Parents are “the principal and first
educators of their children” (CCC,
no. 1653). The family is the community
where children “learn moral values,
begin to honor God, and make good
use of freedom” (CCC, no. 2207).
The family gives testimony
to faith, love, unity, peace,
and justice.
The married couple—itself a sign of
grace—works to form a family that
is a “sign of unity for the world” and
a “witness to the Kingdom” of justice
and peace (Compendium, no. 220,
Familiaris Consortio, no. 48). The
home is the place where each person
learns “solidarity and communal responsibilities” (CCC, no. 2224).
Parents train children, from childhood
on, to recognize God’s love for all, to
care for “their neighbors’ needs, material
and spiritual,” to share in common with
others, and to be involved in the local
community (Apostolicam Actuositatem
[Decree on the Apostolate of Lay
People], no. 30).
Marriage and the family
inspire solidarity with the
human family.
In the section called “The Family and
Society,” the Catechism notes that
being a member of a family helps us
to broaden our definition of who is
included in our family. In our fellow
citizens, we learn to see “the children
of our country,” in the baptized, “the
children of our mother the Church,”
and in every human person, “a son or
daughter” of the Father. Our relationships
within the immediate family provide a
foundation so that our relationships with
all our neighbors become “personal.”
We come to recognize our neighbor
not as a “unit” but as a “someone”
who “deserves particular attention and
respect” (no. 2212). In this way, the
work for justice, life, and dignity begins
in the family.
The rights of families and
married couples should be
prioritized in public policy.
The well-being of individuals and
societies is linked to “the healthy state
of conjugal and family life” (Gaudium
et Spes [Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World], no.
47). Therefore, we must “enact policies
promoting the centrality and the integrity
of the family founded on marriage
between a man and a woman” and that
“assume responsibility for [the family’s]
economic and fiscal needs” (Caritas in
Veritate, no. 44).
In particular, we should preserve the rights of the family in civil laws and policies and work to ensure “that in social administration consideration is given to the requirements of families in the matter of housing, education of children, working conditions, social security and taxes” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, no. 11). We should also work to ensure that migrants’ right to live together as a family is safeguarded. Copyright © 2013, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to duplicate this work without adaptation for non-commercial use
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