MARRIAGE—WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT…

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Your wedding is one day, while your marriage is a lifetime. However… Your wedding should reflect what you and your spouse understand your marriage to be. So… What does Holy Matrimony celebrate?

FOUR QUALITIES OF MATRIMONY MUTUAL SELF-GIVING Both spouses give of themselves freely to each other. This involves giving without expecting something in return. This is especially lived out in the couple’s sexual relationship with each other.

COVENANTAL FAITHFULNESS Covenant: A relationship that cannot be broken because the two parties are bound to each other. COVENANT ≠ CONTRACT This is why Catholic marriages can’t have prenuptial agreements. Even if one spouse is unfaithful? Yes. Think of God’s covenant with us. This requires permanence and constancy

BECOMING ONE’S REAL SELF Marriage should allow someone to become the TOTAL person God’s called them to be. A married person should become someone they never could have been w/o being married

CREATIVITY Marriage should bring something into this world that never existed before Think of the Trinity This requires that a married couple is OPEN to bringing children into the world This is also why impotence is an impediment to marriage (can. 1084)