Monday, June 3, 2013
502. What are the offenses against the dignity of marriage? (part 5 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 2400) Adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union are
grave offenses against the dignity of marriage. (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).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2390) In a so-called free union, a man and a woman refuse to give juridical and public
form to a liaison involving sexual intimacy. The expression "free
union" is fallacious: what can "union" mean when the partners
make no commitment to one another, each exhibiting a lack of trust in the
other, in himself, or in the future? The expression covers a number of different
situations: concubinage, rejection of marriage as such, or inability to make
long-term commitments (Cf. FC 81). All these situations offend against the
dignity of marriage; they destroy the very idea of the family; they weaken the
sense of fidelity. They are contrary to the moral law. The sexual act must take
place exclusively within marriage. Outside of marriage it always constitutes a
grave sin and excludes one from sacramental communion.
Reflection
(CCC 2391) Some today claim a "right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of
getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in
premature sexual relations may be, "the fact is that such liaisons can
scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man
and a woman, nor, especially, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires
or whim" (CDF, Persona humana
7). Carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life
between a man and woman has been established. Human love does not tolerate
"trial marriages." It demands a total and definitive gift of persons
to one another) Cf. FC 80). [END]
(Next question: What is
set forth by the seventh commandment?)
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