This is the handout I give to the couples during my pre-cana talk:
Marriage as a Sacrament
1. How does God see Marriage
2. What is a sacramental marriage.
3. What the mission statement for a sacramental marriage is.
4.What can block the vision for a sacramental marriage
5.Then five steps for a successful sacramental marriage.
a. Give your life to it!
a. Personal relationship with God.
b. Relationship of couple with God in their Domestic Church.
c. Purity before and during marriage.
d. openness to new life.
Scriptural references
Genesis 218 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Proverbs 1822 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD .
Sirach 36: 24=-25
24 A wife is her husband’s richest treasure, a helpmate, a steadying column.
25 A vineyard with no hedge will be overrun; a man with no wife becomes a homeless wanderer
Sirach 26
1 Happy the husband of a good wife, twice-lengthened are his days;
2 A worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life.
3 A good wife is a generous gift bestowed upon him who fears the LORD;
4 Be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a smile is ever on his face.
Matthew 725 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell–and great was its fall.”
Matthew 16:24
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Philippians 4:13 I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me –
Matthew 619 “(1) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves (2) treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for (3) where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:27-28
You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Psalm 127
Behold, (6) children are a gift of the LORD, The (7) fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a (8) warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. 5 How (9) blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
Psalm 1273 Behold, (1) children are a gift of the LORD, The (2) fruit of the womb is a reward.
Psalm 128Blessedness of the Fear of the LORD.A Song of Ascents.1 (1) How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who (2) walks in His ways. 2 When you shall (3) eat of the [1] (4) fruit of your hands, You will be happy and (5) it will be well with you. 3 Your wife shall be like a (6) fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like (7) olive plants Around your table. 4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD.
Matthew 19:14But Jesus said, “[Matt 18:3; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; 1 Cor 14:20; 1 Pet 2:2] Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for [Matt 5:3] the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Catechism paragraphs.
1615 However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy -.It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to “receive” the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ. This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ’s cross, the source of all Christian life.
1601 “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”
Books and other resources
Giving Love : Embracing God’s Beautiful Design for Marriage (Paperback)
by Kimberly Hahn, Scott Hahn ISBN-10: 1569552924
First Comes Love: Finding Your Family in the Church and the Trinity (Paperback)
by Scott Hahn
Good News About Sex and Marriage: Answers to Your Honest Questions About Catholic Teaching (Paperback)
by Christopher West ISBN-10: 0867166193
Theology Of The Body For Beginners (Paperback)
by Christopher West ISBN-10: 1932645349
A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul (Paperback)
by Holly Pierlot ISBN-10: 1928832415
Love, marriage and children (A Dell book) (Unknown Binding)
by Fulton J Sheen
The Thrill of the Chaste, Dawn Eden ISBN-10: 084991311X ISBN-13:978-0849913112 (2006)
On the Web: Examples of Catholic Sacramental Marriages in Action.
http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=reallearning;action=list A list of blogs by Catholic married women
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/
http://4real.thenetsmith.com/
http://www.mothersruleoflife.com/
http://www.christopherwest.com/
http://www.popepaulvi.com/
http://www.ccli.org/
http://www.markmallett.com/blog/?p=563
http://ccostello.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-we-decided-against-contraception.html
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