•                                                        Once, the Pharisees cameto Jesus and to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce hiswife for any cause"? He answered: "Have you not read that the one who made them atthe beginning 'made them maleand female' and said, 'For thisreason, a man shall leave hisfather and mother and bejoinedto his wife, and the two shallbecome one flesh'? So they areno longer two, but one flesh.Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Mt.19:3-6). God, who is all love, created man in His imageand likeness. He was given the gift to love and to beloved. Despite being in the midst of all the bliss inparadise, God decided that it is not good for man tobe alone. So He gave him a partner to love and to beloved. Adam united himself to Eve and both of thembecame one body (Gen. 2:24). God made them onebecause He wanted to make them partake in the work of creation " Be fruitful and multiply, and fill theearth and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28).

    Matrimony- a Sacrament

                                   Jesus raised the divine covenant of matrimony intoa sacrament. Matrimony is a sacrament that gives us thenecessary grace to love limitlessly, to cooperate with God in procreation, and to rear children.
     
                                 The most important ritual in the sacrament ofMatrimony is the blessing by the priest who is the officialrepresentative of the Church after receiving the marriage covenant the bride and bridegroom renderbefore the witnesses  With the holy Gospel as witness, the bride and groom take an oath. Besides, holding thehands together, tying the 'thali", exchanging the rings,adorning the bride with the 'manthrakodi', garlandingeach other etc. are rituals lending meaningfulness to thecelebration of marriage. These rituals are symbols ofmutual giving and dedication. The woman and man,having been born in the grace of baptism and attainedn inseparable relation with Jesus, will grow in divinegrace when they receive the sacrament of Matrimony.During the sacrament of Matrimony, Jesus blessesthem, and unites them inseparably and gives them the grace to execute their duties.
     

    The Indissolubility and

    Fidelity in Marriage

                                                Matrimony is a sacrament that continues until the end of life. The spouses promise, during the celebrationof the sacrament, their readiness to be united in any circumstance, happiness or sorrow, wealth or poverty, health or sickness and live with oneness of mind, mutuallove and fidelity, right from the day of marriage until death The love of the spouses requires, by its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of their entire life. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1644). No man canseparate what God has joined (Mt.19:6). The Churchteaches that, true to the matrimonial promise taken, theymust grow constantly in their communion through dayto- day fidelity of total mutual self-giving.

                                         The mutual fidelity of the spouses is a fundamental factor of their matrimonial relationship  Fidelity is the result of their mutualself-giving. Theintimacy of two individuals in married life on account oftheir mutual giving to each other, inspires them to rootthemselves in ultimate fidelity and inseparable unity andensure the welfare of their children. The basis of alliancein marriage is the fidelity of God to His covenant and thefidelity of Christ to his Church. (Catechism of theCatholic Church 1646-47)
                               .During the time of marriage, the grace to live infidelity without being separated until death is given.Since their life starts with Christ, this grace strengthenshem to carry on their life flawlessly. In proportion to thegrowth oflove, unity, and fidelity, they will enrichthemselves in grace. They, being united in the love ofChrist, dedicate themselves to God. Their mutual loveand dedication paves the way to the love of God.

    To Love and to Give Life

                                      This sacrament has two aims: conjugal love and procreation. The spouses are obliged to love each other in all innocence and without measure   The love Jesus has for theChurch and the submissiveness of the Church to Jesus should serve as models for them.St. Paul says: “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave himselfup for her”(Eph.5:25). “Just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, ineverything to their husbands”(Eph.5:24).God had devised a plan to strengthen the mutual love and dedication of the spousesright at the beginning itself when He created man. Thus, He created man as male andfemale so as to make them complementary to each other (Gen.1:27). In order that they getattracted towards each other, God granted them the great gift of sex. This gift is to be exercised in marriage relationship alone; it is sinful and not permissible outside marriage.

                                 The husband and thewife, being united in marriage,cooperate with God in the holyact of procreation. Children arethe supreme gift of God for theheavenly love shared betweenthem. The sacrament ofmatrimony exhorts the spousesto grow in mutual love, fidelity,and purity and to bring up theirchildren in a way pleasing toGod. We are taught in theSecond Vatican Council:“Marriage and conjugal love, are characteiristically intended to beget children and bring them up… Children are the supreme reward of married life. Letthe spouses consider that their special duty is to beget children and bring them up.(TheChurch in the Modern World,50). The spouses receive the necessary grace for this through the sacrament of matrimony.

    LET US

    READ AND MEDITATE THE WORD OF GOD

    (Eph. 5 : 22 - 33)

    A Verse to Remember

    “ Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself,
    and a wife should respect her husband”.
    (Eph. 5:33)

    Let us Pray

    O Jesus, who loved the Church and sacrificed yourself
    to render her as your spotless wife, enrich our families
    with the grace of divine love.
     

    My Resolution

    I will pray daily so that I may find out my vocation in life and receive it with the
    necessary wisdom and grace.

    Teachings of the Fathers of the Church

    The husband and wife become one with an exclusive privilege of self-giving.
    This is to beget children and bring them up with the cooperation of God. Thus they,
    hand in hand, soar up into perfection