Florida Catholic | Catholic Identity Series

CATHOLIC IDENTITY SERIES

Catholic marriage: icon of Christ the bridegroom and his bride, the church

FATHER JOHN J. PASQUINI | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 07.03.08

Catholic Identity Series

Father Pasquini is an author and columnist. He is the parochial administrator of St. John of the Cross Parish in Vero Beach.

Jesus infused his very presence into the wedding feast at Cana (Jn 2:1-11) and forever changed the mystery of marriage.

In Matthew 19:5-6 we read: “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. They are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Just as Christ’s union with his body, the church, cannot be separated (Eph 5:22-32), likewise the union between husband and wife, a union which mirrors the relationship between Christ the bridegroom and his church the bride, cannot be separated.

Christ elevated marriage to the level of a sacrament by the gift of grace, the gift of his very self. The reality of a man who gives himself completely, without doubt, without reservation, fully to his wife and a wife who gives herself completely, without doubt, and fully to her husband can only come about by the supernatural gift of grace. It is only in this way that two can really become one (Mt 19:3-6; Mk 10:6-9).

Because of this unity to which God calls a couple, marriage must be holy, indissoluble, open to life and according to the natural order (Mt 19:5; Mk. 10:7f; Eph 5:22-32; 1 Thes 4:4; 1 Tm 2:15; Gn 38:9-10; Lv 20:13). Marriage must mirror Christ’s love for his own bride, the church (Eph 5:25, 31-32). It must mirror God’s covenant with his people (cf. Song of Songs).

Because of the above reality, marriage is that which must be blessed by the church.

As Ignatius of Antioch (ca. A.D. 107), the disciple of the apostle John, states: “It is right for men and women who marry to be united with the bishop’s approval. In that way their marriage will follow God’s will” (“Letter to Polycarp,” 5).

Marriage is that precious gift where spouses are called to aid each other on the journey towards holiness.

Marriage is a vocation directed toward the salvation of spouses and the perpetuation of the mystery of Christ and his church to the world.

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CATHOLIC IDENTITY SERIES

Catholic marriage: icon of Christ the bridegroom and his bride, the church

Catholic Identity Series

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