The Trinity and the Sacrament of Matrimony

Bishop Vitus Huonder
(Photo: Bistum Chur)

A Sermon on the Occasion of the Day of the Clergy
by
Bishop Vitus Huonder

My dear confreres,

During my reading the Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming Synod of Bishops entitled The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization, the following statement gave me pause for thought:

The People of God's knowledge of conciliar and post-conciliar documents on the Magisterium of the family seems to be rather wanting. [...] Some observations attribute the responsibility for this lack of knowledge to the clergy, who [...] are not sufficiently familiar with the documentation on marriage and the family, nor do they seem to have the resources for development in these areas. [...] Some responses also voice a certain dissatisfaction with some members of the clergy who appear indifferent to some moral teachings. Their divergence from Church doctrine leads to confusion among the People of God. Consequently, some responses ask that the clergy be better prepared and exercise a sense of responsibility in explaining the Word of God and presenting the documents of the Church on marriage and the family. (§11-12)

For this reason, I would like recall the key affirmations of our Faith regarding the sacrament of matrimony, so that we possess a foundation for our subsequent discussion.

The first fundamental truth is that matrimony is of divine origin. Marriage is God's work. This is made manifest in the creation of man and woman. It is sanctified through the blessing God speaks over the first human couple. It remains sanctified even though the relationship between man and woman is tarnished and damaged by original sin. It follows, then, that the association of man and woman in matrimony, and thus the shared use of their sexuality, is not at their sole disposal. On the contrary, they are required to live their marriage and their calling as husband and wife according to the will and good order of the Creator. This must be taught and passed on as part of the Good News.

Marriage is God's work. Marriage is also the work of Christ. Christ the Redeemer became man to heal that which is wounded through sin and to renew the face of creation. He also renewed the relationship between man and woman by instituting the sacrament of matrimony. Through His incarnation, through the mystery of the union of His two natures, the divine and the human, Our Lord gave to marriage a sacramental formation, so that St. Paul could write: Marriage "is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church" (Ephesians 5:32). Matrimony, then, is not only a reality of God's creation, but also a reality of God's grace in the New Covenant. Therefore, man and woman are called to sanctification through formal entrance into the sacrament of matrinony before the Church, before the servant of the Church, and to live their life as spouses according to the will of the Creator and the Redeemer, that is, to live their marriage in the Holy Spirit.

And thus the line of thought continues: Marriage is God's work. Marriage is the work of Christ. Marriage is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the sacrament and guides the work of God and the work of Christ to perfection. When man and woman enter into matrimony with an honest intention illumined by faith and with an eye toward the Creator and Redeemer, as it says in the Book of Tobit, "not for any lustful motive, but [...] in singleness of heart" (Tobit 8:7), they are guided by the Holy Spirit and strengthened by grace for their new purpose. It is this reality of marriage which the Catholic doctrine and spirituality of matrimony desires to make accessible for the aid of spouses to live their marriage in the sight of God.

The Church has preserved the doctrine on matrimony and the foundation of marital spirituality in her pronouncements regarding the purposes of marriage. The essential purposes of marriage are the conception and rearing of children, the mutual aid owed by spouses to one another, and a morally ordered sexuality. St. Paul expresses this as follows: "But for fear of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render the debt to his wife, and the wife also in like manner to the husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2-3). 

The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes summarized the Catholic doctrine on marriage with the following words:

By their very nature, the institution of matrimony itself and conjugal love are ordained for the procreation and education of children, and find in them their ultimate crown. Thus a man and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matthew 19:6), render mutual help and service to each other through an intimate union of their persons and of their actions. Through this union they experience the meaning of their oneness and attain to it with growing perfection day by day. As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness between them. (§48)

I repeat the quote from the previously quoted section of the Instumentum Laboris for the upcoming Synod of Bishops:

Some responses also voice a certain dissatisfaction with some members of the clergy who appear indifferent to some moral teachings. Their divergence from Church doctrine leads to confusion among the People of God. Consequently, some responses ask that the clergy be better prepared and exercise a sense of responsibility in explaining the Word of God and presenting the documents of the Church on marriage and the family. 

Sacred Scripture, the entire tradition of the Church's teaching and the theology of marriage briefly referred to in the document Gaudium et Spes provide us with a sufficient guideline for presenting to the people the beauty and divine intention of the institution of marriage and leading them to a faith-filled union of man and woman. Such is the scope of our responsibility. Let us take up this responsibility henceforth. The considerations of the Synod can only confirm us in the same. We should not expect any change in doctrine regarding marriage, family and sexuality, but rather a renewed and deepened awareness for the ideal and the demands of marriage drawn from the sources of Sacred Scripture and Tradition. Amen.

(Original: Bistum Chur)