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 TH221 E Celebrating Gods Presence As A Christian CommunityStudents CopyTopic 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 SEEName: ________________________ 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._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.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

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 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 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 GodEach 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 thatThe 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. In the first letter of John we read the following: (1Jn 4:7-12)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 formIn 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 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 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 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 open-ended 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 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 friendshipThe 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 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. 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/PRAYSecure a copy of the celebration or Rite of the Sacrament of Marriage (outside of the Mass or Eucharist) 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.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. B. My personalised vow or pledge of commitment in prayer form: (maximum of 10 sentences)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PREPARED FOR IRED BY: GABRIEL M. DE LOS SANTOS

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