In marriage the sacramental gift of love is united to the graces given in each Sacrament received and is especially transformed in the gift of Eucharistic love, the gift of self to one another as man and woman. Cardinal Kasper writes, “The Christian faith does not find its orientation in a system of intellectual propositions. Its point of references is always a concrete person, namely, Jesus Christ. People found this intolerable and irritating: how can this man, who we know to be the son of Joseph and his mother we know, make such a claim, presenting himself as the Son of God? The Gospel tells us that they “murmured.” Later on, Paul was to write that the message of the cross was a scandal to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23).” (P 49 “Sacrament of Unity” Walter Cardinal Kasper) The point of reference, the person of Jesus Christ, is also the point of reference in any marriage and in reality to each and every Sacrament we participate in during our life of discipleship.

Marriage is not an intellectual proposition. It is a relationship formed between and man and a woman with the desire for an eternity of love. A lifelong commitment to service and sacrifice, to love and blessing seen in the covenant between God and His people brought into the living reality of the two becoming one. And yes, I know that some will say this is “an intellectual proposition” on its own, but in reality it is an act of faith where the cross becomes a shared gift and sacrifice where walking along is no longer a possibility but where the marriage walks with Jesus and takes up the cross to follow him.
When we proclaim in the vows of sacramental love the truth of God’s plan for a lifelong covenant between the man and the woman the world does begin to murmur the doubts, fears and the scandal of the audacity of such a gift. But, the claim comes with the promise of grace shared and given in the presence of Jesus Christ. The world may doubt the praise but we join together in faith…the world my fear the sacrifice but we embrace the gift…the world my shout at the scandal but we rejoice and are glad in the truth of God that His Kingdom is present in the joy we share.
“When a man and a woman in marriage mutually give and receive each other in the unity of “one flesh “, the logic of the sincere gift of self becomes a part of their life. Without this, marriage would be empty; where as a community of persons, built on this logic, becomes a communion of parents.” (“The Civilization of Love” Pope Saint John Paul II) The free will of the mutual gift of one to the other relies on the loving sacrifice where we are called to empty ourselves to grow ever greater in receiving the other. The “murmuring” of doubt and fear above become the murmuring of love between the couple in becoming one in the hope of grace. The receiving of one to the other and through the other is the recognition of the joyful unity of trinity.

In marriage the sacramental gift of love is united to the graces given in each Sacrament received and is especially transformed in the gift of Eucharistic love, the gift of self to one another as man and woman. Cardinal Kasper writes, “The Christian faith does not find its orientation in a system of intellectual propositions. Its point of references is always a concrete person, namely, Jesus Christ. People found this intolerable and irritating: how can this man, who we know to be the son of Joseph and his mother we know, make such a claim, presenting himself as the Son of God? The Gospel tells us that they “murmured.” Later on, Paul was to write that the message of the cross was a scandal to the Jews and a folly to the Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23).” (P 49 “Sacrament of Unity” Walter Cardinal Kasper) The point of reference, the person of Jesus Christ, is also the point of reference in any marriage and in reality to each and every Sacrament we participate in during our life of discipleship.
Marriage is not an intellectual proposition. It is a relationship formed between and man and a woman with the desire for an eternity of love. A lifelong commitment to service and sacrifice, to love and blessing seen in the covenant between God and His people brought into the living reality of the two becoming one. And yes, I know that some will say this is “an intellectual proposition” on its own, but in reality it is an act of faith where the cross becomes a shared gift and sacrifice where walking alone is no longer a possibility but where the marriage walks with Jesus and takes up the cross to follow him.

When we proclaim in the vows of sacramental love the truth of God’s plan for a lifelong covenant between the man and the woman the world begins to murmur the doubts, fears and the scandal of the audacity of such a gift. But, the claim comes with the promise of grace shared and given in the presence of Jesus Christ. The world may doubt the praise but we join together in faith…the world my fear the sacrifice but we embrace the gift…the world my shout at the scandal of eternal love but we rejoice and are glad in the truth of God that His Kingdom is present in the joy we share.
“When a man and a woman in marriage mutually give and receive each other in the unity of “one flesh “, the logic of the sincere gift of self becomes a part of their life. Without this, marriage would be empty; where as a community of persons, built on this logic, becomes a communion of parents.” (“The Civilization of Love” Pope Saint John Paul II) The free will of the mutual gift of one to the other relies on the loving sacrifice where we are called to empty ourselves to grow ever greater in receiving the other. The “murmuring” of doubt and fear above become the murmuring of love between the couple in becoming one in flesh in the hope of joyful grace. The receiving of one to the other and through the other is the recognition of the joyful unity of trinitarian love within the marital embrace. If we return once more to the reality of the person of Jesus Christ alive and within the embrace of love we begin to experience the joyfulness of love and how the sacrificial blessing have their foundation in the gift of of the cross that becomes the invitation to gracious love.. It is the movement of grace and peace that fills the lifelong unity with the daily experiences, the small moments and the little acts of intentional gifts of shared life.
It is not to say there is never disappointment, heartache or sufferings in the marital life, but in the sacramental decision of covenantal love, we know there is more and even these moments deepen the unity of familial grace.
“The natural dynamisms of love—affection, love in a strict sense, and sexuality—are seized by the power of Jesus Christ, bridegroom of the church, and are opened to the depths of the nuptial mystery.” (P. 80–81 “The Nuptial Mystery” Angelo Cardinal Scola) Love truly is a mystery and each word that is spoken reflects the personal encounter between two people reflecting the glorious love God has shared with us through His son our Lord Jesus Christ. We are seized by the power of love. It is allowing our hearts and souls to be seized by God and by the other which the thickness of loves seeps ever deeper into our heart. Each moment of shared love is an intimate act of offering, sacrificing and emptying to be filled to the greater in taking our heart and placing in the heart of the beloved. Jesus reminds us in the Eucharistic sacrifice to “do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19) to be broken and shared in love, we too are called in the sacramental gift of love to do this: to be broken, to be shared, to live the fullness of love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

Fr. Mark