Marriage comes from God’s love and his plan for humankind. This is a foundational assertion that comes from our faith. It is important to begin here, for in doing so, we affirm that marriage is not the creation of men and women. We do not define marriage for ourselves. God has willed and defined it into existence by creating man and woman, as we learn in the book of Genesis. In this first of the books of the Bible, we are told God blessed the union of the man and the woman and desired that such a union be fertile. Jesus himself reiterated this fundamental reality in his teaching.
Marriage is a union of two persons equal in dignity and complementary in gender. It is oriented toward complete unity that by its very essence is also oriented to fertility or procreation. We cannot dissect ourselves; we are complete persons, persons who have physical, psychological, spiritual and relational qualities that make us whole persons. The unity intended in marriage requires a union of all these aspects of our person. One cannot unite oneself with another in marriage if the natural ability to be united physically, spiritually, psychologically or spiritually in a fruitful manner is lacking. Possessing the natural capacities and qualities of one’s gender is needed, and must be complemented by a person of the opposite gender for a marital union to exist.
Marriage is both natural and a sacred because on one hand it is a created reality (created by God), and on the other hand, a reality rooted in God’s divine plan. The Church also teaches that a marriage of two baptized persons is a sacrament, i.e., a saving reality. It is a symbol of Jesus’ love for the Church. A sacramental marriage lets everyone see a bit of the creative, faithful, self-sacrificing and abundant love of Jesus.
More on marriage in later posts.
