RELED063: Contemporary Issues in Christian Marriage

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A. Read: http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/sacraments/matrimony.htm .
B. Provide brief/concise answer for the questions below.
C. Submit this paper today, before 5 AM tomorrow, November 12, 2021
1. Submission (30 points)
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b. 20 points – after 5:00 AM up to 11:59 AM
c. 10 points – before 12:00 midnight
e. 0 point– submitted at 12:00 PM onwards of November 12, 2021
2. Content (70 points)
a. Each question with sufficiently correct answer is worth 5 points.
3. This paper will be recorded as our Long Quiz.
D. Save your paper as PDF, and submit the same via Blackboard.

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THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY MATRIMONY

1. For what ends has God instituted Matrimony? The marital bond, which establishes
an intimate communion of life and love between a man and a woman, was established
and provided with its unique set of laws by the Lord. It is ordered to the couple's benefit,
as well as the generation and education of children, by its very nature. Marriage between
the baptized was elevated to the status of a sacrament by Christ
.
2. How does sin threaten marriage? Every man encounters evil both externally and
internally. This experience manifests itself in man-woman relationships. Their union has
always been threatened by disagreement, a spirit of dominance, infidelity, jealousy, and
conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation. This disorder can manifest more
or less acutely and be more or less overcome depending on the circumstances of
cultures, eras, and individuals, but it appears to have a universal character.

3. What does the Old Testament teach about marriage? The prophets prepared the
Chosen People's conscience for a deeper awareness of the unity and indissolubility of
marriage by seeing God's covenant with Israel as a picture of exclusive and faithful
wedded love. Ruth and Tobit's novels provide emotional witness to a higher concept of
marriage, as well as fidelity and affection between spouses. The Song of Solomon has
long been seen as a singular expression of human love, a pure reflection of God's love -
a love "strong as death" that "many floods cannot extinguish".

4. What new element did Christ give to Matrimony? The sacrament of Matrimony
symbolizes Christ's and the Church's relationship. It offers spouses the grace to love one
other with the same love that Christ has for his Church; the sacrament's grace thus
perfects the spouses' human love, deepens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them
on their road to eternal life.
 RELED063: Contemporary Issues in Christian Marriage

5. Are all obliged to get married? Marriage is not an obligation to everyone. As we all
know, we are now in the 21st century and people are now aware about their choices in
life. Priests and nuns are a good example of men and women called by God to follow the
Lord Jesus in a life of purity for the sake of Kingdom of Heaven.

6. How is the sacrament of Matrimony celebrated? When the Sacrament of Marriage is

celebrated at Mass, the major celebrant is a priest. In many ways, a wedding Mass is
similar to any other Mass, but with the inclusion of a marriage ceremony, the core of
which is found in two critical moments: the bride and groom's consent and the newly
married couple's Nuptial Blessing. The necessary factor that makes the marriage is
consent. The bride and groom are ministers of the sacrament to each other at this time,
and the celebrant gets their consent on behalf of the Church. The Order of Celebrating
Matrimony comprises two other crucial aspects in addition to the Consent and the
Nuptial Blessing. Before exchanging vows, the bride and groom are asked a series of
questions, known as the Questions before the Consent, to ensure that they are
approaching marriage freely, intending a lifelong union, and are open to children and
their rearing "according to the law of Christ and his Church." There is then a Blessing
and Giving of Rings after the exchange of vows. The blessed rings will be worn by the
spouses as a symbol of their covenant with each other and with God.

7. What is matrimonial consent? Marriage is founded on the consent of the contracting

parties, i.e., their willingness to dedicate themselves, voluntarily and definitively, to each
other in order to live a covenant of faithful and productive love.

8. Who administers the sacrament of Matrimony? Only priests who have received the
faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of
Christ. 

9. Can the sacrament of Matrimony be repeated? i.e., to be received more than

once? Matrimony can be received more than once if the recipient is widowed or has
their previous marriage annulled. 

10. What is required when one of the spouses is not a Catholic? A mixed
marriage (a marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) is common in
many nations. It necessitates extra effort on the part of couples and their pastors. A
marriage including a cult difference (between a Catholic and a non-baptized individual)
necessitate considerably more caution. This permission or dispensation presupposes
that both parties are aware of and do not exclude the essential ends and properties of
marriage; and that the Catholic party confirms the obligations of preserving his or her
 RELED063: Contemporary Issues in Christian Marriage

own faith and ensuring the baptism and education of children in the Catholic Church,
which have been made known to the non-Catholic party.

11. What are the effects of the sacrament of Matrimony? God himself seals the
agreement by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another. Thus, God has
established the marriage bond in such a way that a marriage concluded and
consummated between baptized people can never be dissolved. This bond, which is the
result of the spouses' free human act and marriage consummation, is a reality that is
now irrevocable and gives rise to a covenant guaranteed by God's fidelity. The Church
lacks the authority to deviate from this disposition of divine wisdom.

12. What sins are gravely opposed to the sacrament of Matrimony? Adultery
and polygamy are incompatible with the sacrament of matrimony because they violate
man and woman's equal dignity as well as wedded love's unity and exclusivity. Other
sins include denying one's procreative potential, which deprives conjugal love of the gift
of children, and divorce, which is incompatible with marriage's indissolubility.

13. When does the Church allow the physical separation of spouses? Even
though there is hope for their reconciliation, the Church allows the physical separation of
spouses when living together becomes practically impossible for severe reasons.
However, as long as one's spouse lives, one is not free to form a new union, unless the
marriage is declared null and void by religious authorities.

14. What is the attitude of the Church toward those people who are divorced
and then remarried? Today, a large number of Catholics in a variety of countries use
civil divorce to form new civil unions. "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another,
commits adultery against her," Jesus Christ said, "and if she divorces her husband and
marries another, she commits adultery." The Church holds that if the original marriage
was valid, a second union cannot be recognized as valid. If divorced people remarry
civilly, they are in a situation that is obviously against God's rule. As a result, they will be
unable to receive Holy Communion as long as this circumstance continues. They are
also unable to carry out some spiritual tasks for the same reason. Only those who have
repented for violating the sign of the covenant and of faithfulness to Christ, and who are
dedicated to life in full continence, are eligible for reconciliation through the sacrament of
Confession.