In a previous post, the logical and theological necessity of the Development of Doctrine was discussed. One of the points made was that corruption of doctrine, normally what we label as heresy, always leads to a dead end and ends up destroying the very doctrine it was trying to explain. But there is a sense in which heresy also can be an impetus for the development of authentic doctrine by “forcing” the Church to elaborate more fully on the doctrine in question. History is replete with examples, but we are faced with a prime example today in the attack within the Church on the Sacrament of Marriage.
We do not need to go into the details of the attack specifically other than to say the widescale acceptance of contraception, remarriage, and even gay marriage within the Church all signal an attack on the Sacrament itself. Part of the reason why the response has been so slow is that there is still a lack of clarity within the theology of the Sacrament of Marriage. St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body was a beginning, but it remains just that—a beginning. His teaching is so dense that there remains much work to be done to clarify and expound on what he hoped to accomplish. This essay is an attempt to move the discussion forward by clearing up some common misconceptions.
Natural Marriage vs Sacramental Marriage
The first distinction is between natural and Sacramental marriage. Marriage by its very nature is something sacred because it is ordered towards the co-creative action of procreation. Even in its natural state it acts as a sacrament (note the small s) pointing to God’s covenant with mankind. But this natural state of marriage is different not just in degree but in kind from Sacramenta Marriage. So often people see the Sacrament as something added on to natural marriage but in truth it is a different reality. It is a different reality because it has a different end. Natural marriage is for the propagation of the species, Sacramental marriage is for the propagation of the Church. Natural marriage is for the mutual help of the spouses, Sacramental marriage is for the mutual sanctity of the spouses.
Because natural marriage and Sacramental Marriage (for ease we will call it Matrimony moving forward) are distinct realities we must resist the temptation to lump them together. It would be akin to not seeing bread and wine as essentially different from the Eucharist. They may look the same from the outside, but the interior reality makes all the difference in the world. Matrimony is not just a Catholic way of getting married, but instead its interior life becomes a cause of grace in the souls of the spouses. In other words, its sacramentality is a direct participation in the mystery of Redemption.
The Fruits of the Sacrament
Failing to grasp this and thinking that something like divorce is possible is not just to disobey a commandment of Christ. Instead it is a denial of the Sacrament and threatens the entire Sacramental structure. Matrimony, like all Sacraments has specific fruits. The first fruit is the unity of the spouses. Rather than trying to “hold it together”, Matrimony is a cause of their unity. They are bound together as Christ is bound to the Church and their union continually approaches this ideal. And in so doing, it brings about the thing it signifies by uniting them closer to Christ as members of His Church.
Secondly, the Sacrament also bears the fruit of indissolubility. As St. John Paul II puts it in Familiaris Consortio, “the indissolubility of marriage finds its ultimate truth in the plan that God has manifested in His revelation: He wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the Church” (FC, 20).
The Church uses the term fruit very purposefully. For fruit comes about when a tree is matured and it is always sweet once it is ripe. The fruits of Matrimony are felt more deeply as the marriage matures. Lacking this maturity, the fruit often tastes bitter. In other words, the gifts of unity and indissolubility do not guarantee that things will be easy, even if they guarantee they will be possible. Before the fruits are matured the couple will have to have their faith purified. His commands—“you shall not divorce and remarry another”—are not made in a vacuum, but instead ought to be read as promises—“because of the power of the Cross you shall not divorce and remarry another.” As an they grow in faith in God, their faithfulness to each other increases likewise. The fruit day by day matures until it becomes sweet.
Even tolerating divorce and remarriage is not just a practical issue but has theological consequences as a denial of the power of the Sacrament. It says that the Sacrament really doesn’t do anything and ultimately Matrimony is no different than natural marriage. To deny this ultimately is to deny the power of the Cross to save. And this is ultimately why we are facing a heretical crisis. Marriage in all appearance is impossible. Matrimony however is not because “nothing is impossible for God.” It is, as JPII put it, “permanent reminder to the Church of what happened on the Cross” (FC, 13). The Church is facing a great modern heresy about the Theology of Marriage and the Faithful must respond in both their living and understanding of Matrimony as a Sign of Contradiction.