Marriage, one of the most common institution across every time and culture. And across those time and cultures, it has had totally different meanings.
What do Catholics mean by marriage?
It is one of the seven Sacraments. The Sacrament of marriage means that the couple themselves are a sign of God's love.
Sacraments is a visible sign instituted by Christ to give grace.
Catholics believe marriage is a vocation, a call from God, to love, honor, and live in union with one person for life. Just as God calls some to the priesthood or religious life, He calls couples to follow Christ through marriage.
This also means that since their marriage represents Christ's love for the Church, the ordinary day-to-day life of a couple points to a greater reality where Christ is present. He leads them to greater unity in love.
Civil marriage are performed by government officials and recognized as a legally-binding union, but what marriage means varies from couple to couple. They can be part of a traditional religion or not.
While all civil marriages are recognized as legal, and Catholocs believe that God can be present in all circumstances, for a marriage to be considered valid in the Catholic Church, it must have particular qualities.
Catholic marriage must have the followinf four elements.
1. One man and one woman must enter into the marriage freely.
The spouses must be free to marry. There can be no conditions that would get in the way of this freedom
2. They freely exchange their consent
They must be not freely from other vow or ties, but also choose each other on their own without pressure from anyone else.
3. Consent to live out what the Church means by marriage.
Covenant, which mean to marry for life, be faithful to one another, and be open to children. Marriage is a lifelong commitment. Couples pledge to go through hard times and good times together, to do the work of growing with and toward each other as they age.
4. The exchange of vows that takes place publicly before a Church minister, usually in a church
Catholic marriage is not just for the couple, but is a continuing sign of God's love for the community and the world.
Whike the Sacrament of marriage is witnessed by a priest, thecl ritual itself takes place between the man and the woman. Their vows are made publicly as a sign to one another and the whole Church community.
Catholics know the bar is set high. It's no simple calling to live out ordinary daily life in such a way as to be a sign of Christ's love for each other and for the world. And unfortunately, it's not the kind of thing you could hack.
The requirement are not there to be a burden. While not everyone lives them out perfectly, they're to ensure freedonm and happiness.
Everyone should get married. Because danger is actually on your side.