Marriage Part 1

THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

Bibliography

Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, Paulines, Nairobi, 1981.
Pontifical Council for the Family, Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage, Paulines, Nairobi, 1996.
Benezeri Kisembo, Laurenti Magesa & Aylward Shorter, African Christian Marriage, Paulines, Nairobi, 1997.
John Burke, Catholic Marriage, Paulines, Nairobi, 2006.
John Burke, Marriage Annulment, Paulines, Nairobi, 2007.
Mary Kibera, Love and Conflict in Marriage, Paulines, Nairobi, 2007.
Michael Lawler, Marriage and the Catholic Church, Collegeville, Liturgical, 2002.
Theodore Mackin, The Marital Sacrament. New York: Paulist Press, 1989.
James & Evelyn Whitehead, Marrying Well: Stages on the Journey of Christian Marriage. New York: Doubleday, 1984
Mercy Oduyoye & Musimbi Kanyoro, The Will to Arise, (esp. articles by Musimbi Kanyoro & Anna Nasimiyu Wasike and other articles on marriage), New York, Orbis, 1992.
William Blum, Monogamy Reconsidered, Nairobi, Gaba Publications, 1989

Chapter One OLD TESTAMENT

Genesis
· Sacredness - rooted in the creation narrative – Gen 2:18-24.
· Preservation of husband’s clan
· Children are regarded as a blessing and a gift from God.
Family Affair
· Generally monogamous.
· Polygamy tolerated.
· Adultery forbidden by the Torah.
· Women had few legal rights and were seen as the property of their fathers or husbands. Even the Ten Commandments placed coveting a neighbour’s wife on the same footing as coveting his goods (Ex 20:17).

Monogamy
Prophets present the faithful love between husband and wife as ideal and they see Yahweh’s faithful love for Israel in this context.

Hosea
Waiting for Gomer, as Yahweh waits for Israel.
Perception that husband’s love for wife is image of Yahweh’s love for Israel.

Other Prophets
Ezekiel 16: Yahweh’s love for Israel is like of a husband who loves his wife but is deserted by her.
Song of Songs: Extols ecstasy of love
Tobit 6-8: The perfect marriage is one of love between husband and wife.
Sir 25-26: Dangers and Rewards of Domestic Life.
Proverbs 5-7, 31: The virtues of the perfect wife.

Divorce
Accepted
Adultery: Dt 20:22-24.
Only husband has right to it.
Remarriage accepted, except for wife to her first husband
Dt 24:1-4 – ‘for something indecent’
Shammai: Adultery. Hillel: Displeasure of husband.
Faithful God

Yahweh Significance: Just as Yahweh loves Israel, husbands are to love their wives. It gives richer significance to marriage; personal aspect stressed, fidelity, woman respected and loved as person.

Chapter Two JESUS CHRIST

Kingdom of God
Everything seen in light of the Kingdom of God
Mk 12:25 – no marrying in Heaven.
Lk 14:20, 17:27, Mt 24:38-39 – Concerns of marriage superseded by Second Coming.

Divorce
Divorce and Remarriage = Adultery (Mt 5:31-32, 19:3-12, Lk 16:18, Mk 10:1-12).
Permanent and Indissoluble Marriage.

Porneias
‘Except on the grounds of porneias, unchastity,’ Mt 5:32.
· Softening of Jesus
· Separation without remarriage for adultery
· Generally accepted as referring to an incestuous union, which was forbidden (Lev 18:6-18) and would nullify the marriage (Acts 15:20, 29.
Jesus gives New Significance to Marriage - Eph 5.32

Chapter Three NEW TESTAMENT

Attitude: Eschaton expected, so marriage seen as provisional. Paul prefers celibacy, giving one a focus on preparation for the end-time. He advised people not to make changes.

Missionary Ideal Affirmed: Leave all for Kingdom of God.

Marriage never condemned.

Messianic Period described as a Wedding Feast
Slaves free to marry citizens.
Divorce & Infidelity Rejected.

Ephesians 5:21-33: Married Christians are to love in a way that reflects the covenant between Christ and the Church. Ephs 5:32 – “This mystery has many implications; but I am saying that it applies to Christ and the Church.”
Mystery – Sacrament.

I Corinthians 7 – Contract: The exchange of mutual rights and obligations. Equal rights for men and women.

Pauline Privilege: Marriage with a non-Christian causing trouble, then the Christian could obtain a divorce and be allowed to remarry.

Pastoral Epistles – Household Codes: Church leaders are to be successful in marriage and family life and be faithful to their wives.

Chapter Four EARLY DEVELOPMENT

Patristic Period
Civil Weddings. For first three centuries, marriage was a family affair.
Church Blessings were developed as time went on.
Pope Nicholas I in 866: Marriage by mutual consent was accepted as valid.
For first 1200 years, no Church ceremony. With Trent, 1563, the presence of a priest was demanded.

Three Severe Pressures
1. Gnosticism: The body and sexuality are evil. The only way to live ‘spiritually’ was to be celibate.
2. Bible: Sex is really ‘Plan B’, the first act recorded after the Fall. The Fathers sensed that humans do not control their sexuality; it has an unruliness and an irrational energy of its own.
3. New Testament: Jesus was celibate and his disciples left everything to follow him. In heaven, there is no marriage. Paul spoke of marriage as medicinal.

Procreation justified sex and marriage. Society and the Church needed children. Besides God commanded us to increase and fill the earth, Gen 1:28, and infertility was seen as a curse. Paul says a woman will be saved through child-bearing, I Tim 2:15.

Augustine
Marriage – good: Sex – ambiguous if not evil, an unfortunate effect of original sin.
The Values of Marriage: Fidelity, Offspring, Sacrament.

Control, Sacrament, Ceremony, Contract & Consent 500-1400

Control – Pastor takes over marriage registration with the barbarian invasions.

Movement towards Sacrament

The Doubts.
Marriage good – Sexuality suspicious. Marriage was often viewed negatively as a remedy against the desires of the flesh rather than positively as a way to become holy.
Finance
Pre-Christian Human Reality

The Energies
Renewal of Augustinian Thinking
Spiritual Renewal
Albigensian Heresy

So Peter Lombard included marriage as a sacrament in his influential list. The Council of Verona (1184) confirms this and justifies it as a sacrament on the basis of Paul’s teaching that it is a living sign of Jesus’ Covenant with Church. The grace of the sacrament assist people grow in Holiness and fulfil their Marital Duties. Marriage was declared indissoluble to reflect Jesus’ faithful union with the Church.

Development of Wedding Ceremony in 12th Century
Contract: The exchange of rights for procreative acts.
Consent: Roman Mutual Consent or European Family Arrangements & Marriage Consummated with Intercourse?
· Popes: Mutual Consent & Consummated with Intercourse.

Chapter Five COUNCIL OF TRENT

Council of Florence, 1439, stressed the Triple Good of Marriage:
Children
Faithfulness
Indissolubility

Reformers
Marriage is a secular reality and is a context for holiness.
They Rejected the Church’s juridical role.

Council of Trent, 1563
Affirmed Marriage as a sacrament.
Defended the Church’s role.
Tametsi deals with Clandestine Marriages, stating that each marriage must take place in the presence of a priest and two witnesses. Canonical Form.
The Ministers are The Couple.
The Role of Priest is debated.
Other Christian Communities developed Wedding Ceremonies and in France, Civil Weddings become Mandatory in the 1792.
So Tridentine Law applied only to Catholics.
‘There can be no Marriage between Catholics which is not a Sacrament’ – Pius IX.
1917 Code defined marriage in contractual terms as the mutual exchange of rights over one another’s body for acts that of themselves suitable for the generation of children.
Casti Connubii, 1930, of Pius XI, stresses institutional aspect but brings out many personal elements.

Chapter Six RECENT TIMES

Changes in Marriage
Social duty → Individual right
Compliance to Parents → Personal love
Love after wedding → Love before it
Extended family → Nuclear family
Basic unit of society → One social unit among many
Personalist Influence
Primary purpose – Personal Fulfilment and Mutual Growth of Spouses
Marriage is seen as a Community of Persons
Roman Reaction
1944: Holy Office says Marriage is Primarily a Contract.
Pope Pius XII sees the Fulfilment of personal needs as Secondary.

Second Vatican Council

Gaudium et Spes 48-50 (1965)

Lumen Gentium 11 (1964)

Covenant: Marriage is rooted in the conjugal covenant of irrevocable personal consent GS 48. The Council did not use the traditional term ‘contract’, and caused the 1983 Code to see marriage more as a covenant.
Marriage is an Interpersonal Communion, a sharing of life between two people who love each other, GS 12.
Sexuality and Procreation. Sexual intimacy is perceived in the context of the total marital relationship and procreation is the natural development of two people who love each other, GS 50. The Council turns away from the language of primary and secondary ends.
Consummation: Not just a biological act, but the intimate communion of married life and love, GS 48.
Sacrament: Because marriage is such a sacred and noble calling the spouses have a special sacrament in which they are strengthened to love each other as Jesus loves the Church, GS 48. Marriage is a Path to Holiness, LG 11.
Faith Commitment: Marriage is a union between faithful Christians.
Ecclesial. The Family is the Domestic Church, LG 11.
Indissoluble, GS 48.
Tribunals Challenged by the new perception of marriage as an intimate partnership of life and love.

Humanae Vitae (1968).
Here Pope Paul VI presents a very enlightened vision on marriage, never using the word ‘contract’, and giving prominence to marital love, mutual gifting and responsible parenthood.

Familiaris Consortio (1981)
Pope John Paul II sees celibacy/virginity and marriage as two ways of expressing and living the one mystery of the covenant of God with us. For him, the family as the first vital cell must be the prime concern of the whole of society.

Recent Thinking
Recent theology continues to move away from a legalistic understanding of marriage to a more person centred theory and practice.