Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [1]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the

Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

TH221 E

Celebrating Gods Presence

As A Christian
Community
Students Copy

Topic 8:
The Church as Sacrament of Gods
Love; the Sacrament of Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

Objective: At the end of this session the students will be

able to design their own vow of commitment, to a
(potential) life-long partner, together with their own unique,
personal symbol(s) expressing love, friendship, loyalty,
fidelity and commitment.

Let us SEE
Name: ________________________
Class Time: ______________Date: ______________
A. Personal Reflections:
1. Do you intend or plan to get married in the
future? Yes or no. If yes, please tell why. If no,
please tell why not.
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Unauthorized reproduction and selling is not allowed.
First Semester 2014-2015.

__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_________________________.
2. What do you think should be the primary reason
for or purpose of marriage? Are you aware of
other reasons besides this that makes people
enter into marriage?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_________________________.
3. Can you give your personal suggestion on how to
prepare for a successful marriage?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
_________________________.
Group Sharing: on Personal Reflection

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [2]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

Class Plenum:

Synthesis: (by the teacher)

Let us DISCERN
In the previous two topics, we discussed and
emphasized that the Church is a wounded healer and
also that the Church is Gods comforter and consoler.
Although wounded, the Church is nevertheless called and
challenge by Christ to be a healer. The Church, made up of
people who are also broken and alienated are called and
challenge by Christ to effect reconciliation and to be a
comforter and consoler to others and to the world through
the power of Christ and his Spirit. We saw that God is
interested in healing the whole person; and
reconciliation is present whenever and wherever Sin and Evil
is overcome. The Sacrament of Reconciliation celebrates
reconciliation with self, others and God; and the Sacrament
of the Anointing of the Sick is a celebration of healing; both
done through the power of Christs love, care and concern.
Christian life and ministry is a call and challenge to
love. It is call and challenge to action and
commitment of love, care and concern for others,
especially the poor, the needy, and the sick.
We saw how healing and reconciliation goes
together; and how healing and reconciliation are but two
dimensions of Christ call, challenge and mission. Healing
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First Semester 2014-2015.

and reconciliation are the continuation of Jesus life and

ministry in the Church. Healing was understood as the
mission of making humans whole again or helping
restore them to their true humanity through the power
of Christs love, care and concern. Reconciliation is the
overcoming of Sin which is the greatest barrier or
obstacle to healing. Sin is basically missing the mark or
failing in the challenge to live a life truly and fully human.
Sin is a failure to do or to be what one ought to do or to
be as a truly and fully human person. To be in sin is to
live a lie. Such lie affects our relationship with our
self, others and God. It causes alienation and brokenness.
The challenge is to have conversion (Metanoia), a
complete turn-around or going back or going
home to ones true status and person before self, others
and
God.
Such
action/conversion
demands
the
continuous nurturance through practice, of the
virtues of humility, meekness and gentleness.
The Christian mission or ministry to love God and
ones neighbour, to heal and to reconcile, is lived out
concretely in various ways of discipleship. A
Christians particular way of living out ones Christian
Mission or Ministry is called a vocation or a state of
life. One can be called to Single Life, Religious Life,
Marriage and Holy Orders. Only two of this vocational
choices or states of life are numbered among the
sacraments of the church: Marriage and Holy Orders. The
reasons are more historical and cultural rather than
theological. We must remember, however that whatever
state of life or vocation one is called to, all vocations or

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [3]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

states of life are of equal dignity and importance. All

of these are paths to discipleship.
The Second Vatican Council emphasized that the basic
Christian vocation is the universal call to love and to
holiness, and holiness means the call to become
more and more fully human. Marriage will be discussed
in this topic while Holy orders will be treated in a more
detailed way in the next topic.

A. THE CHURCH-COMMUNITY REMEMBERS:

Each one of us is truly and uniquely loved
by God
Each of us is uniquely known and loved by God. In
the Book of Isaiah we read the following: (Is 49:15-16.)
Can a mother forget her infant, be without
tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should
she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the
palm of my hands I have carved your name...
In the same book of Isaiah, Chapter 43:1, we find Yahweh
speaking to his people:
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you o
Jacob and, formed you, O Israel: I have called you by
your name; you are mine.
In his homily during the daily morning mass in Casa
Santa Maria (01-13-2014) Pope Francis talked about the
unique love of God for each one of us when he said that
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First Semester 2014-2015.

The Lord awaits us in history and lovingly

accompanies us in history...God loves us forever and
never forsake us...Because our rationalism says:
How is it that the Lord, who has so many people to
think about should think of me? However, he has
really prepared the way for me. With our mothers,
our grandmothers, our fathers, our grandparents and
great-grandparents...Thats what the Lord does. This
is his Love: real, eternal, and also customized.
This also tells us how great this love is. The Lord has
been preparing us for some time. He walks with us,
preparing others. He is always with us!

B. THE CHURCH-COMMUNITY BELIEVES: Each

one of us is called by God to be like him in
love.
God created man and woman in love to share Gods
divine life and love. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
(Art. 1694) quoting Romans 6:11,6:5, and Colossians 2:12
states that incorporated into Christ by baptism,
Christians... can strive to be imitators of God... and
walk in love, by conforming their thought, words and
actions to the mind of God which is yours in Christ Jesus,
and by following his example.
Jesus identifies the greatest commandment as to
love God and to love ones neighbour as ones self.
(Mt22:38). Jesus identifies this as the fulfilment of the law
and the prophets. Every human person is a creature of love
and is called to live a life of love of God and neighbour.

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [4]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

In the first letter of John we read the following: (1Jn 4:712)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is
of God; everyone who love is begotten by God and
knows God. Whoever is without love does not know
God for God is love. In this way the love of God was
revealed to us: God sent his only son into the world
so that we might have life through him. In this is
love: not that we have loved God, but that he love us
first and sent his son as expiation for sins. Beloved if
God so loved us, we also must love one another.

John makes it clear that God does not love us because

we love him first. On the contrary we are able to love God
and our neighbour because God loves us first. Such love
of God for us is seen in his act of creating us and also in his
act of salvation. Our act of love for God and our love
for our neighbour is our response to a God who loves
us first.

C. THE CHURCH COMMUNITY CELEBRATES:

the love of husband and wife (conjugal
love) mirrors the love of God in its
highest form
In a way we can say that marriage is the first
sacrament or the basic sacrament of Gods life and
love. Sacraments are meant to be special avenues of
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First Semester 2014-2015.

insight into the reality of God; they are meant to be words

of Gods self-revelation. The reality of human love and
friendship touches the most basic level of this revelation. In
the words of John (1Jn 4:16): God is love, and he/she who
abides in love abides in God. And God lives in him/her.
What happens when these love and friendship
appears to be absent or seem to be lacking in ones
life or experience? I remember a particular experience I
had in one of my theology class concerning a particular
student. The student does not pay attention in class, even
disrupts the class once in a while. I also noticed that
whenever we talk about God and Gods love especially when
we emphasized that God loves us for what we are and no
matter what (Mahal ka ng Diyos maging sino ka man at
maging ano ka man.) there was always a very clear
expression of pain, sadness and disgust on his face. When I
talked to the student later on outside the class this is what
he confided to me. He told me that whenever I discussed
God and the reality of how much God love us, he always felt
so much pain and sadness in his heart, and even a form of
rebellion. He cannot help but think at the back of his mind:
F_ _ _K! How can you say that God loves me
and cares for me while my whole life is full of
s_ _ t! My parents separated while I was a
small child. A relative took me in but I never
felt any love from them. Now I live alone in a
boarding house. I am a working student. My
parents never even bother to visit or call me.
Both of them have their own family now. I
never felt their love. I feel nobody cares for
me. I have no real friends, not unless you can

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [5]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

call gimmick-buddies as real friends. The

girl-friends I have had in the past always leave
me. They cannot understand me. I cannot
blame them. I also find it hard to understand
myself. Even in school some professors are
picking on me and dont understand me.
Where is this God that you say loves me and
cares for me for what I am and no matter
what... I never saw this God in my life and
never felt his presence?
Where is this God that you say loves me and cares

for

me...? Where are my parents? How come I have no

friends? Such anguish and pain makes us see the value of
other people in our experience of love and loving. It makes
us see the value of the experience of the love and loving
that comes from fellow human beings. We see the value of
others: their love or their refusal to love us.
All human life starts with the family. Every human
being is supposed to be the result of the love that exists
between the father and mother or the husband and wife.
That is why children are called offspring. It is in the
family that a person first experience love, or the lack
of it, in their lives. Here we see the value and importance
of marriage as the basic or first sacrament of Gods love and
life. Marriage as conjugal love has always been considered
as a paradigm of human relationship and love, and the
ground of human community.
The imagery of husband and wife was the basic way
the prophets depicted the relationship between Yahweh and
the people of Israel; although sadly more often than not it is
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First Semester 2014-2015.

used in the negative: Yahweh is the faithful one while Israel

is the unfaithful spouse. Christianity infused another
dimension of meaning into the relationship between the
husband and wife: a sign of the love that exists
between Christ and his church; a covenant between
God and his people wherein covenantal love, fidelity,
commitment, self-giving and faithfulness are essential or
expected.
Marriage is a covenant of love between the wife and
husband that expresses the love of Christ for his church or
the love of God for us. Such covenant of love is an openended contract that demands 100% effort by both
parties. It is not a 50-50, but a 100-100 proportion. Just as
God always remain faithful to his people or Christ always
remain people to his Church, the husband and wife are
called to be faithful to each other for life in marriage.
Perhaps one of the most difficult things to believe over the
course of a lifetime is that we are important enough to be
loved by God, and to be loved unconditionally. The love
between the husband and wife makes credible such
unconditional love of God by the discovery that each one is
important to and also loved by each other unconditionally.
The sacrament of Christian marriage is the
husband and wife in their unfolding relationship to
each other as Christians; they are sacrament for each
other, sacrament to their children, and sacrament to all
those who come to know them. As a covenant of love
marriage by its very nature is creative; it is open to the
procreation and education of children. Love by its very
nature is a dynamic power; it seeks to go out of itself and
share to others. Marriage is recognized as a lifelong

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [6]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

process through which a couple grows in holiness

both in their life together and in raising children.The
family is a little church, a community of love, a
covenant of irrevocable personal consent.
In bringing their love to public ritual expression in the
sacramental celebration, the couple welcomes Christ in
their common life, the ups and downs, the good times
and bad, the daily routine. Trusting that Christ will stay
with them and help them remain faithful to one another,
they attempt to give visible expression to Gods
steadfast love over a whole lifetime. Marriage is a
sacrament of the power of transforming love that comes
from God. The couple themselves are the actual
sacrament of marriage. The real ministers of the
sacrament of marriage is the bride and groom in their
mutual promise to love one another, to live their life in love,
to love their children and cherish them, and to be faithful to
each other for life. Every time they remain faithful and love
each other this way, Jesus becomes present in their midst
and the spirit dwells in their hearts. Such life and love of
God is mirrored in every form of love and friendship; but in
its highest form is conjugal love: the love of husband
and wife.

D. THE CHURCH-COMMUNITY LIVES/LOVE:

The way of love and friendship
The reality of the human person and human life
especially if it is lived according to the mind of God, gives us
some insights into the way and nature of God. Human love
and friendship gives us a certain taste or
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Unauthorized reproduction and selling is not allowed.
First Semester 2014-2015.

experience of the God who is love. While we can

definitely say that Gods love is greater and much more than
what we can really imagined, human love and friendship
enable us to experience what it means to be love by
another person; and ultimately to experience what it
means to be loved by God( de los Santos 1986: 138-142).
We can come to know God more and more deeply by coming
to know what our human life and experience is and how it
somehow reveal or fail to reveal the way God loves us. To a
limited extent we can assert that we can come to
some true understanding of God and his love by
reflecting on our experience of being loved by
another person. Life is to extend to further life, either by
creating new humans or by creating new levels of personal
life in already existing humans through the process of loving
relationships.
It is so easy at times to be tempted to wish that Jesus
will once again walk the earth like what he did more than
two thousand years ago; to show love, justice, truth,
freedom, peace, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, etc.
Maybe if Jesus is present with us today our world and life
on this world will be different, some people will say. The
good news is that Jesus continues to be present to us
through the Church, through the love that we show
to one another. The Church, the Christians are the
sacrament of Gods love. In the early church Christians
were known and identified as disciples of Jesus through the
love that they give or share to and with one another. The
Church is called to love and serve the Lord by loving and
serving one another. All experience of love and being
love is sacramental. It can either reveal or fail to reveal
the reality of a God who is love.

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [7]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

All Christians are called to love and serve one

another, whether married or not. As we mentioned
earlier the universal call or vocation given to all
Christians is to seek holiness in love; to love and to
be a friend as a disciple of Christ. There are different
paths to discipleship. Some Christians are called to live
Christian life in the context of a single life, dedicating
themselves to something for the good of humanity and for
the greater glory of God. Others are called to the religious
life, living in community, living a life that exemplifies the
evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Others are called to the service of the church through Holy
orders. Whatever be ones calling or vocation all of
them are of equal value and importance. All of them
are valid and effective ways of reaching holiness and
perfection in love.
St Vincent de Paul speaks of zeal or burning love. Zeal
or burning love is effective love. It is the active care and
concern for the other. It involves the willingness to labor
even if it appears to be in vain. It is to love life without
end, to be committed through and through bringing
life and others to the fullness of life who is God. Let
us love God my bothers. But let it be through the strength of
our arms and the sweat of our brow.(SVP)

Let us ACT/PRAY
Secure a copy of the celebration or Rite of the
Sacrament of Marriage (outside of the Mass or Eucharist)
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First Semester 2014-2015.

from your parish church or from the campus ministry office.

Study and reflect on the ritual and focus on the different
symbols used and on the traditional pledge or vow of
commitment.
If you are given your way to modify or change your
own wedding ritual, how will you do it? What symbols will
you use and what meaning will they convey? How will you
formulate your own personal pledge or vow of commitment
incorporating and expressing in your own way the idea of
covenantal love, fidelity, commitment, self-giving and
lifelong sharing of life and love?
Name: ____________________________________________________
Class Time: _________________Date: _________________________

A. The symbols or actions I will use and the meaning

symbolised: (in lieu of ring, veil, cord, candle,
arrhae )
1.___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3.___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [8]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4.___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
5.___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
.
B. My personalised vow or pledge of commitment in
prayer form: (maximum of 10 sentences)
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
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Unauthorized reproduction and selling is not allowed.
First Semester 2014-2015.

PREPARED FOR IRED BY:

GABRIEL M. DE LOS SANTOS

REFERENCES:
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Chauvet, Louis-Marie. The Sacraments: The Word of God at
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Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [9]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

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First Semester 2014-2015.

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Theology 3: Celebrating Christs Presence as a Christian Community [10]

Topic 8: The Church as Sacrament of Gods Love; the
Sacrament of
Marriage as
celebration of Gods love

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