The Family is the Primary Unit of Society - Bishop Barron
Sacred Scriptures, Tradition and the saints, including Saint John Paul II - Love and Responsibility
Theology of the Body
1983 Code of Canon Law,
Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Fides et ratio
Memory and Identit - have written volumes about the Catholic Vision 1Of Marriage, countering every possible objection- some of it included below. If you are impatient, don't have the time to read, Bishop Robert Barron's video below, is an excellent encapsulation
In ancient Rome, not unlike what we see today, marriage was not considered to be a permanent relationship and was a relatively private affair. Divorce was so commonplace that the event was not recorded in official Roman records until the 5th century A.D., and along with frequent divorce came frequent remarriage. Marital fidelity was not generally expected, particularly of the husband; Roman men could have relationships with multiple women without repercussions. This disparity was reflected in the laws of the Roman Empire, where men and women were not considered equals and women faced harsh penalties for adultery.
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| Kamala Harris supporters not unlike the early Roman Anti-Catholic crowd. |
Early Christians believed that marriage was a permanent commitment, that the spouses were equal partners in the marriage, and that fidelity to one’s spouse was of great importance, as seen in the writings of the early Church, such as The Shepherd of Hermas from the early 2nd century, The First Apology by St. Justin Martyr, written around 150 A.D., and other 2nd century writings by theologians like Athenagoras of Athens, St. Theophilus of Antioch, and St. Irenaeus. These writers defend the permanence of marriage, since they forbid remarriage. They uphold the equality of the spouses, reminding us that each has equal rights in marriage. And these early Christians teach us that fidelity is expected and that infidelity is seen as a tragedy. The distinctly Christian understanding of marriage comes out in three aspects: permanence, equality, and fidelity.
Saint John Paul presented the family as rooted in the economy of salvation—that is, God’s act of creating the world and offering salvation through Christ—with an important role to play in the order of redemption. The family, as such, must continue the work of Christ and this work must begin first within itself, within each individual family before affecting the extended community.
Men and women considering marriage yearn for certain things. They want to be accepted unconditionally by each other. They want their marriage to be filled with love and happiness.
They want a family. In short, they want their marriage to be a source of joy and fulfillment their
whole life long.
God’s plan for marriage, from the time he first created human beings as male and female,
has always included all this and more. The desire and ability of a man and woman to form a
lasting bond of love and life in marriage is written into their nature.
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For spouses, it’s essential to be open to the gift of life, to the gift of children. They are the most beautiful fruit of love, the greatest blessing from God, a source of joy and hope for every home and all of society. Have children!- Pope Francis |
"Among the many blessings that God has showered upon us in Christ is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the human race…
It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life.
Indeed, as Pope John Paul II never tired of reminding us, the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family."– U.S. Catholic Bishops, 2009 Pastoral Letter: Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan
The family, asa way of the Church, makes sense in light of the Gen 2:24, “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh”. Ever since the fall, this unity of man and woman has been threatened; therefore the Church exists for man and for the family, for its sanctification and protection. Man passes through and forms a family as part of his created nature; the formation of this community of life and love is a deeply human act. The family for its part is not only the object of the Church’s missionary activity but also a way for its activity, that is, a participant in the mission of the Church
Genesis 2:18-24:
The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
Psalms 127
Unless the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who build.
Unless the LORD guard the city, in vain does the guard keep watch.
It is vain for you to rise early and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—all this God gives to his beloved in sleep. Certainly sons are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb, a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be shamed
for he will destroy his foes at the gate.
The Catechism
The Catholic Catechism states that “the divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of persons, in the likeness of the unity of the divine persons among themselves. From his conception he is destined for eternal beatitude. He finds his perfection in seeking and loving what is true and good” (CCC 1702-1704). We are beings created in love and for love, as “love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being” (FC 11). For this reason it is imperative for spouses to meet Christ, the source of love and the one who “fully reveals man to himself” (GS 22). In marriage, in their one flesh union, man and woman are to live as the new man by forming a communion of persons, through a sincere gift of self. Love forms the inner dynamism of family life and of conjugal communion.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called 'woman, ' for out of 'her man’ this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
Marriage In God’s Plan
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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."85 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.86
85.
Rev 19:7, 9; cf. Gen 1:26-27.
86.
1 Cor 7:39; cf. Eph 5:31-32.
Marriage in the order of creation
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"The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. ... God himself is the author of marriage."87 The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity,88 some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life."89
87.
GS 48 § 1.
88.
Cf. GS 47 § 2.
89.
GS 47 § 1.¹
God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love.90 Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: "And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'"91
90.
Cf. Gen 1:27; 1 Jn 4:8, 16.
91.
Gen 1:28; cf. 1:31.
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Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be alone."92 The woman, "flesh of his flesh," his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a "helpmate"; she thus represents God from whom comes our help.93 "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh."94 The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been "in the beginning": "So they are no longer two, but one flesh."95
92.
Gen 2:18.
93.
Cf. Gen 2:18-25.
94.
Gen 2:24.
95.
Mt 19:6.
Media ' The Catholic World Report:
John Paul II’s vision of family and marriage for the New EvangelizationPope Francis urges married couples to ‘be open to life’
“For spouses, it’s essential to be open to the gift of life, to the gift of children. They are the most beautiful fruit of love, the greatest blessing from God, a source of joy and hope for every home and all of society. Have children!” Pope Francis said.
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