Holy Matrimony is Forever

Vivificat - From Contemplation to Action ^ | 20 September 2014 | TDJ (@Vivificat)

[Teófilo]

Brethren,

Peace be with all of you in Jesus Christ our Lord, the Church's faithful spouse whom we are called to emulate.

There has been some discussion inside and outside the Church about changing the discipline surrounding the Sacrament of Marriage in the name of "mercy," by allowing some Catholics living in irregular unions to receive Holy Communion. Some of the cheer-leading is mere spin by the mainstream media. Other such hand-wringing comes from a senior churchman who then cried "foul" at public criticism of his public stance.

My position is with the Church's historical Tradition and teaching regarding the institution of the Sacrament of Matrimony by our Lord and all the moral implications deriving from it.

The appeal to "mercy" is an emotional appeal, for who can be against mercy? But is mercy to be construed as permission to deviate from the Lord's sovereign will regarding matrimony?

The disciplines surrounding the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony are not to be the sole playground of canon lawyers looking for, or creating loopholes because, I assure you, elephants will frolic through these loopholes until the Sacrament because meaningless. Lawyers have rendered civil marriage meaningless through redefinition, we don't need canon lawyers and misguided churchmen, no matter how senior, redefining the sacrament to adjust to a feeble definition of "mercy."

Let us pray for the upcoming Synod on the Family, that the Holy Spirit keep our bishops within the doctrine we have received from the Apostles, within which we find true mercy and acceptance by God. Let us also pray for every single marriage in the world, that each husband and wife find the union and openness to new life in the love they have for each other, forever.

[null and void]

Then again, I’m an incurable romantic.

This is a good thing.

I got cured.

[HiTech RedNeck]

.... in other words we come from a mutual rebellion of humanity against God, and our next stop would be hell (a hell that we chose) if nothing else intervened. But God has furnished the reconciliation means, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. If accepted, it is always efficacious. If all the church congregations you have been to agree on one single thing, this is it. And that’s good, because that is important.

Jesus. Don’t leave earth without Him.

[Teófilo]

Pain often kills love. It’s an observable fact.

~Theo

[HiTech RedNeck]

There’s nothing wrong with being romantic. There’s everything wrong with looking for the romance in the wrong places.

If you want romance, look at the heart of God. Now THERE you have a romance.

[HiTech RedNeck]

They fight... but sometimes love can shove pain out of the way too. In particular, the love of God will.

[Teófilo]

True that. Love casts out fear and heals pain - or makes it bearable.

~Theo

[HiTech RedNeck]

In the greatest case, that is what worked on the Cross. Jesus saw the joy of love that would follow a salvation of sinners,, and for its sake He endured the burden of the sins of the world.

Jesus looked our death in the face, and won.

[informavoracious]

We have no argument with each other.

[informavoracious]

I respectfully disagree. What if your hard-driven spouse is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or ALS and can no longer function as a Type A go-getter? Marriage is Love, for better for worse, not pragmatism or practicality.

[baltiless]

I agree with you completely and wholeheartedly. Anybody who marries before 30 is asking for trouble. Very few are ready for the commitment, handling the changes that come, the sacrifices, etc. before that age. And if you do marry at, say, 22 or 23 and find that you and/or your spouse is an entirely different person in 10 or 15 years and that it wasn’t meant to be, that’s between the two of you and God, not some man-made institution.

[Salvation]

** I did go to Catholic schools from first grade to 12th**

How did you manage not going to Confession and Communion. The nuns would have been all over your case.

[Salvation]

Another thing, if you were baptized as a Catholic you STILL are a Catholic. That Baptism and its mark do not disappear!

You might find a story similar to yours here -- Coming Home Network

[Salvation]

Worldwide Marriage Encounter

After my husband and I attended a Marriage Encounter weekend, our children told us they did not want their old parents back.

They liked the communication techniques we learned. And respected the lock on the bedroom door too!