The Marriage Covenant and other unions

#133

The Marriage Covenant and other unions

The Marriage Covenant, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament (CCC 1660).

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." (CCC 1601)

Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. The third millennium has begun and many people seem to have forgotten what marriage is about. If one looked at statistics, it would seem that marriage is no longer a promise to be kept for life (Until death do us part). This covenant, this promise between a man and a woman, witnessed by the Church, and often hundreds of guests, doesn't say much for the wedding partners if it ends months, or a year later. Irreconcilable differences can be resolved if both parties are willing to keep an open mind and are able to compromise. Have you tried this?

"Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church. (CCC 1602)

There is absolutely no doubt that Marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman.

Current trends in reference to so-called same-sex marriages all the more dangerous because they can lead to the moral collapse of society. Promiscuity, indiscriminate or casual sexual relationships, also contributes to moral decay. In fact, all these current trends are an affront to the goodness and love God has for each one of us.

"If you extend the rights to the same-sex marriage, that is compromising what marriage is all about, which goes back again to the foundation that biblically God designed for a man and a woman. And although it may not affect my everyday commitment to Chuck, it would -- in the long run it takes away from what marriage was designed to be." (Cheryl Nash, "Religion and Ethics: Newsweekly"- PBS)

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on June 3, 2003, issued a 12-page report, titled: "Considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between homosexual persons." Summarizing this report: "The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behavior, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself." (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger)

"The matter of ever-increasing promiscuity as well as the same-sex proposals of the homosexual community form a great danger to the moral balance of society. Add to this abortion, euthanasia, the general disregard for Christ-like values, and the breakup of the family unit, and you end up with a moral quagmire that brings this world to levels of paganism. A world away from God will not prevail. A great many people determine the legality and moral rectitude of their actions, not upon solidly rooted doctrine but upon "feelings." Their logic is that if it feels right, it must be good. That's the fastest way to perdition. Repent your ways before it is too late." (F.Schaeffer, SFO)