 Happily married: Rosina Gordon
Rosina
married in 2004 and has 3 children.
Rosina has a degree in Communications
and Music and has worked in television and
telecommunications.
Not just "Why marriage?", but "Why
Catholic marriage?"
Marriage is one of the 7 Sacraments
of the Catholic Church, and through receiving this Sacrament (having met defined
conditions) we are imbued with the grace necessary to live successfully as a
spouse and parent.
Some
say marriage is restrictive. On the
contrary, marriage is liberating.
Marriage provides true freedom to love: to love without fear – without fear of
rejection, without fear of sin, without fear of pregnancy. A true Catholic marriage is an open and
giving call to service (in
a life constrained by tight budgets, sick children, interrupted sleep). We are satisfied with the knowledge that
as each of us gives unremittingly so shall we receive from the other and in
marriage we can and should take this for granted.
Others
eschew marriage with the fear that this person may not be “the one”, their true
soul mate. One Jesuit cautioned not
to be deceived. There is no “one”
for you he said, for it is easy to love many. But in making the decision to marry, you
are making the decision to commit to this “one”.
And
what of love? Deus Caritas Est
(Benedict XVI). God is love. Therefore, if you do not have God in
your relationship how can you truly have love? Fulton Sheen emphasises the importance
of this triune love in his book 'Three to Get Married'.
The natural end of marriage is
children. The marriage environment
of unconditional love and support provides the ideal atmosphere for the
nurturing and upbringing of well formed children where they can profit from the
benefit of a secure home environment, the advantage of multi-generational
exchange and interaction, and the value of knowing their genetic identity.
“Marriage
is not a legal vehicle for the purpose of equality; it's a social institution
with children at its heart" (Jenny
Tyree, associate marriage analyst at Focus on the Family
Action).
Marriage
can be the most demanding and yet the most rewarding vocation.
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