What is Marriage?

Pope Francis recently promulgated his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love, discussing marriage and family.  Amoris Laetitia stands as one element within a great tradition of Catholic thought on marriage and family, and must be read in light of that tradition.  The tradition of the Church has a very definite notion of what marriage is, an idea of marriage that is often not shared by secular culture.

In fact, many discussions in our culture today about marriage don’t even ask the question “What is marriage?”  When people advocate new norms for marriage that don’t accord with the collective wisdom of the past, the last question that is ever asked is, what is the fundamental nature of marriage?  What is marriage all about?  What is its purpose or goal?  So let’s ask that question: What is marriage?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines marriage in this way:  "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

Perhaps this is not the most romantic description of marriage you’ve ever read, but it does bring out certain essential elements worth noting:

·        Marriage is a covenant.  That is, marriage is a sacred oath that establishes a familial relationship between two people.  This is not a mere contract, or exchange of goods.  A covenant forms two people into one.

·        Marriage is a partnership of the whole of life.  In other words, unlike other bonds or forms of friendship, marriage has a kind of comprehensiveness to it.  All of life is shared.  Marriage is a comprehensive bond in that it includes the whole of the human person: it is a partnership of body, mind, soul, and all the realities that go along with human life.  Marriage is also a partnership of the whole of life in the temporal sense, that is, marriage is comprehensive in time.  Marriage is “until death do we part.”  This reflects the radically comprehensive gift of self that defines marriage.

·        Marriage is ordered to the good of the spouses.  The primary good we can will our spouse is their salvation!  But the good of the spouses includes all the dimensions of human life.

·        Marriage is ordered to the procreation and education of children.  Here our contemporary culture is more and more departing from this vision of marriage.  In a variety of ways, a wedge has been driven between marriage and children.  But the tradition of the Church clearly sees that (all things considered), marriage is for children, and (all things considered) the best place for a child to be raised is within the covenant of marriage.

·        Finally, for two baptized Christians, marriage takes on another reality: marriage is a sacrament.  A sacrament is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace.  Hence, marriage is an outward sign, willed by Jesus Himself, to give us grace.  If marriage is an outward sign, what is it a sign of?  As we shall see, marriage is an outward sign of Christ’s love for the Church.

Various attacks on the institution of marriage, or realities that weaken marriage all deform on or another of these aspects of the notion of marriage.  They imply different answers to the question, what is marriage?  Marriage is viewed as less than totally comprehensive; or not permanent; or divorced from procreation.  We shall see, however, that this vision of marriage upheld by the Catholic Church finds its grounding in creation itself, in the design of God, and in the redeeming work of Christ.  We will also see that this vision of marriage truly responds to the deepest longings of the human heart.

Pope Francis, Amoirs Laetitia, and the Tradition of the Church

On April 8^th, Pope Francis promulgated his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, or The Joy of Love.  The document is a kind of summary of two synods (or gatherings) of bishops over the last two years discussing marriage and family.  Amoris Laetitia is like the Pope’s encouragement to the Church regarding marriage and family in light of the discussions at the synods.

Amoris Laetitia runs to over 250 pages, and commentators from all quarters of the Church and secular world have been quick to pull out texts to form sound bites appropriate for the nightly news or social media.  Some are quick to claim that the Pope is changing doctrine or Church discipline.  Others point out that this is simply not the case, nor is it even possible.  Like any papal text of such density, however, it will take the Church some time to read, study, and appropriate the Holy Father’s words.

It’s of the greatest importance to realize that Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia did not arise in a vacuum.  The Pope’s new exhortation stands as one element within a great tradition of Catholic thought on marriage and family, and must be read in light of that tradition.  Teachings on marriage and family go all the way back to Jesus Himself as recorded in the Gospels, and to St. Paul and the other biblical writers.  The biblical witness to marriage and family must remain normative for us since it reflects either the very words of Christ Himself, or otherwise the inspired word of God in the scriptures.  There is also a great wealth of teaching regarding marriage and family in the early Church Fathers, as well as saints and doctors of the Church throughout the centuries.  Even in the last century, the Popes have frequently offered teaching on marriage and family, most notably Pope Pius XI’s Casti Connubii (1930), Blessed Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (1968), and Pope St. John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio (1981), as well as his group of teachings known collectively as The Theology of the Body.  It is this tradition of Catholic thought that can act as an effective key for reading and understanding Pope Francis’ latest link in the great chain of church teaching on marriage and the family.

But how can we distill such a wealth of wisdom from so many authors over so long a period of time?  Thanks be to God, the Church has given us the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an authentic summary of this great tradition that pulls from and incorporates all these sources.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church deals with marriage and family under the heading of the seven sacraments, as well as in the context of living the moral life in Christ.  Hence, over the next several weeks, these articles will focus on an overview of the beautiful Catholic teaching on marriage and family as it is presented in the Catechism.  After that, we will be ready to look at a summary of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia.

So next week we will ask a very fundamental question: What is marriage?  Perhaps take the next week and ask yourself how you would answer that question: What is marriage?  How would you define it?  Why does marriage exist?  What is the purpose or goal of marriage?  This is the most basic question we can ask, because until we know what something is we can’t know anything about how to use it, what will make it thrive, or what could make it suffer.