Marriage equality has been a hot topic in the news recently,
particularly since the US Supreme Court’s ruling last week forcing the
federal government to recognise same-sex marriages in states where it is
legal and paving the way for it in California.The US Supreme Court’s decision marked a “tragic day for marriage” in the country, according to Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chair of the US bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defence of Marriage.
In a strongly worded statement the prelates said the court “has dealt a profound injustice to the American people by striking down in part the federal Defence of Marriage Act”.
“The court got it wrong,” they continued. “The federal government ought to respect the truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, even where states fail to do so. The preservation of liberty and justice requires that all laws, federal and state, respect the truth, including the truth about marriage.”
Common good
The bishops also said “the common good of all, especially our children, depends upon a society that strives to uphold the truth of marriage. Now is the time to redouble our efforts in witness to this truth.”
They urged people to “stand steadfastly together in promoting and defending the unique meaning of marriage: one man, one woman, for life.”
They also asked for prayers “as the court’s decisions are reviewed and their implications further clarified.”
But what were Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Cordileone basing their response on?
Marriage is a “covenant or partnership of life between a man and woman, which is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children”, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
At its most basic level, marriage is a union between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation and mutual support, or love.
In the Catholic Church, however, marriage is more than a natural institution; it was elevated by Christ Himself, in His participation in the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), to be one of the seven sacraments.
The Catholic Church insists that marriage between two baptised people, as long as it is entered into with the intention to contract a true marriage, is a sacrament.
Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman and concludes with the “wedding feast of the Lamb” (Rev 19:7, 9). It speaks extensively of marriage, its mystery, its origin and its purpose.
From the beginning, God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone”, so God made woman, “flesh of his flesh”. Therefore, man “leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife” (Gen 2:18-25).
In the Latin Rite, marriage between two Catholics usually takes place during Mass.
The spouses seal their consent to each other in Christ’s offering and receive the body and blood of Christ so they might be “one body” in Christ.
Mutual consent
In the Latin Church, the spouses are the ministers.
They confer the sacrament on each other by their mutual consent.
The priest receives their consent and gives the Church’s blessing.
The priest’s presence and that of the witnesses shows that marriage is a Church reality.
The Church obliges people to be married before a priest and two witnesses because marriage should be celebrated in the Church’s public liturgy and because it bestows a Church order with rights and responsibilities.
It is also essential as the public character strengthens the consent and the spouses’ fidelity.
A valid marriage brings about a perpetual and exclusive bond between the spouses.
Their mutual consent is sealed by God Himself and results in an institution which is confirmed by divine law and accepted in the eyes of society.
Obtain holiness
Because of their Christian state, spouses receive graces to perfect their love, to help them obtain holiness and to welcome and educate their children.
Christ encounters the spouses through the Sacrament of Matrimony. He gives them the strength to begin again when they fail, to forgive each other, to be subject to one another and to enjoy married life.
Conjugal love involves the appeal of body and instinct, the power of feeling and affectivity, the aspirations of spirit and will. This definitive mutual self-giving demands indissolubility, faithfulness and openness to children.
In this way, natural conjugal love expresses Christian values.
This teaching is based upon God’s fidelity to the Old Covenant and Christ’s fidelity to his Church.
This indissolubility receives a deeper meaning from the sacrament.
Marriage, by its nature, has the goals of the procreation and education of children.
Although having other goals, married love disposes the spouses in a special way to cooperate with God to increase his family.
Catholic teaching holds that sacraments bring grace to those who receive them with the proper disposition. Grace is a way of describing how God shares the divine life with us and gives us the help we need to live as followers of Christ.
Good parents
In marriage, the grace of this sacrament brings to the spouses the particular help they need to be faithful and to be good parents.
It also helps a couple to serve others beyond their immediate family and to show the community that a loving and lasting marriage is both desirable and possible.
This sanctifying grace helps each spouse to help the other advance in holiness, and it helps them together to cooperate in God’s plan of redemption by raising children in the Faith.
In this way, sacramental marriage is more than a union of a man and a woman; it is, in fact, a type and symbol of the divine union between Christ, the Bridegroom, and His Church, the Bride.
Married Christians, therefore, participate not only in God’s creative act but in the redemptive act of Christ.