502. What are the offenses against the dignity of marriage? (part 3 continuation)
(Comp 502 repetition) These are: adultery, divorce, polygamy, incest, free unions
(cohabitation, concubinage), and sexual acts before or outside of marriage.
“In brief”
(CCC 1661) The sacrament of
Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the
grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church;
the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses,
strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal
life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799). (CCC 2400) Adultery, divorce, polygamy,
and free union are grave offenses against the dignity of marriage.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1387) To prepare for worthy reception of this
sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church (Cf.
CIC, can. 919). Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the
respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest. (CCC 1610)
Moral conscience concerning the unity and indissolubility of marriage developed
under the pedagogy of the old law. In the Old Testament the polygamy of
patriarchs and kings is not yet explicitly rejected. Nevertheless, the law
given to Moses aims at protecting the wife from arbitrary domination by the
husband, even though according to the Lord's words it still carries traces of man's
"hardness of heart" which was the reason Moses permitted men to
divorce their wives (Cf. Mt 19:8; Deut 24:1).
Reflection
(CCC 1611) Seeing God's covenant with Israel in the image of
exclusive and faithful married love, the prophets prepared the Chosen People's
conscience for a deepened understanding of the unity and indissolubility of
marriage (Cf. Hos 1-3; Isa 54; 62; Jer 2-3; 31; Ezek 16; 23; Mal 2:13-17). The
books of Ruth and Tobit bear moving witness to an elevated
sense of marriage and to the fidelity and tenderness of spouses. Tradition has
always seen in the Song of Solomon a
unique expression of human love, a pure reflection of God's love - a love
"strong as death" that "many waters cannot quench" (Song
8:6-7). [IT CONTINUES]
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