Marriage Is A Wonderful Gift But Terrifying Responsibility

Marriage, it is a wonderful gift but terrifying responsibility. So then what is marriage? Article 7 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the The Sacrament of Matrimony states, 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. If this is so then why do 50% of marriages fail in the first 3 years? What causes people to get married in the first place? Would it be better just to live with people you love and that be the end to it? These are all real concerns and†¦show more content†¦But when a couple is hit with problems or real world issues, unconditional love comes to play. Being fully committed to a person no matter the action or offense is hard and very difficult with unconditional love, but close to impossible without it. Some ask well how do you achieve Agape in a relationship? The Catholic Church puts it simply saying to go to the source of unconditional love, God himself. â€Å"Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love† The Catholic Church views marriage not just as a civil contract or agreement, but as a covenant. In a regular civil contract or agreement once the first party has broken the terms of agreement the second party may choose to break or end all further relationship with the first party. A covenant is a type of agreement, that can’t be broken no matter the offense each party makes. So from the Catholic Church’s perspective ending a marriage is impossible, once a union has been made it can’t be undone or destroyed; marriage is permanent. Now after I say this many think, â€Å"Wait what about an annulment?† that ends a marriage doesn t it? That is only partially right. It doesn t end a marriage but simply states that the marriage was invalid or never truly existed in the first place. To understand this you have to