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Indice > Dialoghi Interconfessionali > L-R-RC > The Theology of Mariage | CONT. > sez. 3
 
  (COVERING LETTER ..;
  FINAL REPORT;
  INTRODUCTION;
  "REASONS FOR A DIALOGUE ..";
  PARTICIPANTS IN THE DIALOGUE) - selezionare

  I. (CRISIS AND CHALLENGE) - selez.
  II. (GENERAL ASPECTS OF MARRIAGE) - selez.
The Relation Of Christ To Marriage
  IV. (MARRIAGE FOR LIFE) - selez.
  V. (PASTORAL CARE) - selez.
  VI. (STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION OF THE NORMS OF THE CATHOLIC
          CHURCH REGARDING MIXED MARRIAGES) - selez.

  (CONCLUSION) - selez.

FULL TEXT

III. THE RELATION OF CHRIST TO MARRIAGE

12. In treating of the relation of Christ to marriage we touch also on the paradoxical source of our divisions as Christians. What divides us here is not, evidently, Christ himself, but the different conceptions our Churches have of his action on us through grace; or at any rate the way these different conceptions are spoken of according to Catholics the Reformation was particularly radical in its approach to the question of marriage. In the name of a doctrine of grace that was often reduced solely to the act, in itself essential, of justification, the Reformation Churches contested the doctrine of the Catholic Church on marriage, founded mainly on a doctrine of sanctification. The Catholic Church on her part developed a sacramental doctrine of marriage which seemed unacceptable to the Reformation Churches. To them it appears that the Catholic Church in this way introduces in marriage an - as it were-automatic efficaciousness of grace which is theologically unacceptable and spiritually unverified. It seems to them that in this connection the Catholic Church does not respect the natural ("weltlich") character of marriage which belongs to it by virtue of creation itself and of the civil institutions of man. She also appeared to them to give too much weight in this domain of marriage to the role of the Church as opposed to that of the State. Catholic doctrine seems to them, too, to overlook the fact that such a human institution as marriage is itself in need of salvation. In the view of Lutherans and the Reformed Churches, the Catholic Church, in holding that marriage is a sacrament, seems to forget that marriage does not of itself give grace but needs to receive it. Lastly, to the Reformation Churches it seems at least doubtful whether Christ himself instituted this sacrament.

13. Our intention here is not to try to solve all these problems. We simply wish to indicate the direction we may need to take if we are to discover together a Christian view of marriage which might truly become the object of a common teaching of faith.

14. Revelation teaches us first of all that God, the living and true God, is not only not a stranger to the human greatness of love, but that He personally is its principle and source. In reality only love can explain that God is truly the Creator and that it is His plan that there should exist the human family, which is founded on, and lives by, love. God, who desires that humanity should become, at all costs, a community of freedom and love, does not want to accomplish His plan without the conjugal ministry of man and woman. As a project for total communion which has as its consequence the bearing and upbringing of human beings in a human way, conjugal love manifests, therefore, the creative plan of God for a world where human creatures are made according to, and live in, His image.

15. However, God is not merely at the creative source of the world and of humanity. He has Himself given within history an unequaled, an unsurpassable, example of love. The People of the Covenant loomed up through the centuries as the unique beneficiary and as the prophetic witness for all men of a Love without limits which nothing can exhaust or destroy. In fact, this Love led God to share wholly in our condition through the Incarnation of His Son. In uniting Himself forever in the flesh of Christ to our humanity, God reveals that His Covenant love is comparable to conjugal love. As Spouse, totally faithful to the People of Israel, God reveals Himself in Christ as the Spouse par excellence, He who gives proof of His absolute love for the Church and for humanity by offering Himself up for them on the cross.

16. We are convinced that such a mystery as this is not, can not, be unconnected with the conjugal relationship. In fact, the Covenant that is projected forward from the world's creation, manifested through Israel, realized in Jesus Christ, announced by the Church of the Apostles, and communicated by the Holy Spirit, reveals that God commits Himself in Jesus Christ to lead every form of love to its complete truth. If we are asked who is this Christ who plays such a prominent role in conjugal love, we may answer unhesitatingly: he is the Lord of the Promise, the Lord of the Covenant and of grace. This is why, without ever forgetting the action of the Spirit present in the core of all conjugal love, the fact that Christians belong to the Lord by virtue of being incorporated into his Life through baptism, also has a bearing on their conjugal existence.

17. If we are ready to step out of our conventional formulations of one form or another, we shall see that this relationship of Christ to the conjugal life of Christians is nothing other than what we all of us refer to as grace. In reality grace is the presence of Christ given to men in the Spirit according to the promise. Thus, without being contained in the state of marriage as if it constituted a reality independent of Jesus Christ, or as if marriage were sufficient of itself to produce it, grace is wholly a gift of Christ to the married couple. This grace, which is granted above all as a lasting promise, is as durable as marriage itself is called to be.

18. This relationship of grace between the mystery of Christ and the conjugal state requires a name. We all of us believe that the biblical term "Covenant" truly characterizes the mystery of marriage. It is this Covenant that the Catholic Church calls a sacrament. The Reformation Churches prefer not to employ this term chiefly because of their definition of what a sacrament is, because of the special character of marriage in relation to the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, and finally because of the controversies and misunderstandings of the past. We believe, however, that in the light of our different mentalities and historical situations, we can have a view of marriage which is in a profound sense a common one.

19. In fact we are all equally convinced that marriage is closely connected with God's promise. This promise is nothing other than Christ himself turning to look upon the spouses so that their love too should become a real and lasting union. This promise is not simply an idea, but the reality itself of Jesus Christ. Because it is the face of Christ himself turned toward married life, this promise is never under the power of those who are called to benefit from it. It is given to them without their ever being able to become its masters. Therefore it presupposes an explicit and ever-renewed annunciation of the word which is no more the prerogative of the minister than it is of the beneficiaries of the grace of marriage.

20. This promise, then, holds the initiative from the beginning and maintains it throughout. It has a kind of autonomy in regard to the spouses. It summons them ceaselessly to allow themselves to be formed by it, without the spouses ever being able to take for granted they have finally succeeded in wholly identifying themselves with the full measure of its demands and its grace.

21. To bring together in this way the initiative of the promise in regard to the spouses and the re-creative experience which the spouses are called to have of its power over them, is to speak of the sacramental power of marriage considered in the light of the Covenant. It also means that marriage is a sign of the Covenant.

22. Understood in this manner, marriage confers on Christians a responsibility both as beneficiaries and as witnesses. The spouses accept more particularly to live their love according to this promise of grace which they know makes it possible for them to put their deep longing for each other in concrete form through the unreserved gift, as well as to surmount its ambiguities.

23. In this way Catholics should envisage grace, not as a kind of purely objective gift which acts unconditionally on the spouses, but as an experience of fidelity and life that Christ stimulates in their hearts through the gift of the Spirit. As for Lutherans and members of the Reformed Churches, they accept that the promise sealed with the death and resurrection of Christ is active in the hearts and lives of married Christians who live the mystery of Christ, in this way becoming its beneficiaries and witnesses. Both are well aware that in expressing in this manner the "sacramental" aspect of marriage in the light of the promise and the Covenant, we have not resolved all the differences that exist between us. We are merely attempting to get beyond the theological ambiguities which can be, and must be, overcome. We also know that we don't exhaust the wealth of meaning inherent in this mystery of grace, a mystery that goes beyond the frontiers of the Christian life. That is why we should not exclude from the beneficial effects of the Covenant couples who are not believers. In trying to describe the relationship between Christ's grace and Christian marriage, we simply wish to point out what a wealth of grace the mystery of Christ contains that may be put at the service of conjugal love which in this way acquires its true greatness. But this greatness can never be separated from our weakness. The message of our Churches, especially at such a time of crisis as ours, should point at one and the same time to the values which Christ himself proclaimed, and to the weakness which He denounced and from which He wishes to save us. Christ hands us over the grace which both judges and saves us.

 
 
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