Marriage and Family

Introduction

Marriage is one of the seven sacraments. Through marriage, the Love of God and the Life of God, both of which are invisible, are made visible. Thus, marriage becomes a sacrament - a visible sign of God's grace.

[Please see: The Seven Sacraments @ Category: THE CHURCH >> Sacraments]

God instituted Marriage; Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Marriage

To believe that Jesus instituted marriage is not all that correct, because marriages existed long before the time of Jesus. The Old Testament does refer to marriage. In fact, God instituted marriage when He created Eve as a companion for Adam in the garden of Eden.

Fr Jan Larson of the Archdiocese of Seattle says: "Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, marriage between two baptized followers of Jesus becomes a sign, an external expression, of the enduring and loving relationship Jesus has with his church. In other words, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus gave new meaning to marriage, what we call sacramental meaning, and so in this very real sense we can say that Jesus instituted the sacrament of marriage."

Thus, Jesus raised marriage to the level of a sacrament.

Therefore, any kind of marital sin against one's partner - be it infidelity, cheating, insult, or rejection - becomes a direct sin against Jesus.

Also, it is significant that Jesus instituted as a holy sacrament the marriage between man and woman, and not between man and man, or woman and woman.

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) officially instituted marriage as a sacrament.

Love, grace, and fellowship

"The love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" are manifest in marriage and family life.

The Church urges that the husband take his wife as the Holy Spirit, because it is she who helps him to greater love and life.