MARRIAGE

Introduction to Marriage

  • Paul taught to forego marriage because of the imminence of the Kingdom of God–the parousia (Christ’s second coming)--(1 COR 7:13)

    • Do not pre-occupy yourself with major life changes

  • But Christ did not return, so he shifted his theology and taught that marriage is good–it reflects the union of Chtist with the Church

Theological Critique of Paul

  • There is no one superior vocation

  • Both marriage and celibacy are equally legitimate vocations

  • We could serve god either way 

  • What is important is how faithfully you live your chosen vocation

Faith

  • Faith ultimately means “to choose” 

    • To make choices and decisions that nurture not only your growth, but the other’s as well

  • Faith is “to see”

    • Go beyond appearances, and see God in the “other”

  • Faith is always a personal involvement

    • It is believing, doing, hoping

  • Faith is always an encounter between the divine and human

  • Faith is accepting and living out that grace is what we subjectively do

  • God’s grace  is what God objectively does

Marriage as a Sacrament

  • Sacrament means a sign of invisible grace

  • Marriage is a sign of God’s love for the church in Christ

    • It reflects Christ’s love for the Church

  • The intimacy at the heart of this union “can” symbolize (signify and communicate; bring about) God’s love

  • A sacrament could be valid and effective, or both

  • To be valid, you just have to fulfill the minimum requirements of the sacrament

    • E.g for mass to be valid, you just have to be present and have faith 

    • Marriage minimum requirements: a priest, man and woman, 3 witnesses, a ceremony, and done in church

  • To be effective, you have to have active faith – actively participating, believing, and living out what the mass asks you to do

    • Marriage: active faith the relationship, actively loving–The will to extend yourself (Scott Peck)

    • Marriage vows should be lived out until death

  • A sacrament is effective through our personal involvement and participation 

    • Anything can be potentially an encounter with the divine, but we have to be open and believe

    • God’s grace build on nature so we have to cooperate

3 Goods of Marriage

  • Children, which counterbalanced the need for sex

  • Marital love, which effectively avoided infidelity

  • Marriage as a sacrament of divine love

Development of Marriage Over Time

  • In the ancient past (before the industrial revolution), marriage was arranged – as a guarantee, to protect your wealth, to bear more children

  • Love between the couple was not required, only obligation to your family

  • The reasons are economic

  • Today, marriage is a couple’s personal decision. They marry because they love each other.


Pros and Cons for Today’s Marriage

  • Personal decision and love are required

  • But the current family lost the support provided by the extended family (The clan, the tribe)

  • Family today is more democratic and egalitarian (equal right and opportunities)

  • But there are more incidences of divorce, premarital and promiscuous sex, because there is no more support from the extended family – family is now nuclear, so small