← The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 221: The Celebration of Marriage (2025)
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What does a Catholic wedding look like? Today, we dive into the liturgical celebration of marriage and learn that the celebration must be valid, worthy, and fruitful. Additionally, we briefly cover virginity for the sake of the Kingdom and how this particular call highlights the beauty and goodness of marriage. Fr. Mike emphasizes that those called to celibacy can truly live joyful and fulfilling lives. Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 1618-1624.
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Father Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sure goodness for us, revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 221. We are reading paragraphs 1618-1624. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in a Year Reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com ciy and lastly, you can click Follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. Because today is 221B Baker street it is day 221. Reading paragraph 1618-1624. Yesterday we talked about the pedagogy of God's teaching us about what marriage is and how Jesus has established in an unequivocal way the indissolubility of marriage, the original meaning of marriage. Jesus recovers and gives back to us. And this is just the high call, the high call of marriage. Today we're going to take a couple next steps. First next step is virginity for the sake of the kingdom. It might seem strange to talk about virginity for the sake of the kingdom when you're talking about holy matrimony, but I don't think it's strange at all. Because here's the thing. Sometimes people will say, and I'll say this again, probably sometimes people will say, oh, so you Catholics, you have people who give up or celibate for the sake of the kingdom, right? Virginity for the sake of the kingdom. Well, isn't that prohibited in the New Testament? Doesn't it say that, you know, the days will come when people will prohibit marriage and that's what you're doing right now? No, no, no, no, no. That is not the case. Let me correct you. Virginity for the sake of the kingdom is not Catholics saying marriage is bad. I'm not going to do it. That's what was warned against in the New Testament. Virginity for the sake of the kingdom is okay. Marriage is so good. Marriage is such a great good. I'm going to give up this great good for the sake of an Even greater good, the kingdom of heaven. And so it's not giving up a bad for the good, because marriage is not bad. Marriage is a great good. I'm going to give up this great good for an even greater good for the sake of the kingdom of God. Now the next thing we're talking about is we're going to launch into kind of some nuts and bolts ish kind of things on the celebration of marriage. And so we're going to have about, I don't know, three or four paragraphs just, just talk about the celebration of marriage. And then tomorrow we'll talk about that matrimonial consent and all those old kind of deets. We're going to go talk about some details, but today we're going to kick it off by just kind of giving the intro to the celebration of marriage. And here's how marriages go. I know a lot of people that don't haven't ever been to a Catholic wedding. And so we're going to talk about some of those aspects today as well. So virginity for the sake of the kingdom and celebration of marriage. Before that, let's pray. Father in heaven. Oh God, you're so good. You're so good that you. You give us these gifts and we don't do anything to deserve them. You give us life and we did nothing to deserve it. You give us love and we did nothing to deserve it. You call us to be love in this world, to give love to the people around us, to be like you. And we don't even realize so often the great gifts that you continue to pour out on us. So Lord, please open our eyes so we can see your gifts. Open our hearts that we can be grateful for your gifts. The gift of life, the gift of the heart that is in our chest, the breath that is in our lungs. The ability to know who you are and to know that you have not forgotten us. And then even in our weakness and our woundedness, you have not abandoned us. Lord, help us to love well. Help us to be like you. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 221. Reading paragraphs 1618, 1624. Virginity for the sake of the kingdom. Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds familiar or social. From. From the very beginning of the Church, there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb, wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the bridegroom who is coming. Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model, as Jesus states in Matthew's for there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it. Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away. Both the sacrament of matrimony and virginity for the kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will. Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other, as St. John Chrysostom whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good. The Celebration of Marriage in the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes place during Holy Mass. Because of the connection of all the sacraments with the paschal mystery of Christ. In the Eucharist, the memorial of the new covenant is realized, the new covenant in which Christ has united Himself forever to the Church, his beloved bride for whom he gave Himself up. It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives, by uniting it to the offering of Christ for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the Eucharist, so that communicating in the same body and the same blood of Christ, they may form but one body in Christ. Inasmuch as it is a sacramental action of sanctification, the liturgical celebration of marriage must be per se valid, worthy, and fruitful. It is therefore appropriate for the bride and groom to prepare themselves for the celebration of their marriage by receiving the sacrament of penance. According to the Latin tradition, the Spouses, as ministers of Christ's grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of matrimony by by expressing their consent before the Church. In the traditions of the Eastern churches, the priests, bishops, or presbyters are witnesses to the mutual consent given by the spouses. But for the validity of the sacrament, their blessing is also necessary. The various liturgies abound in prayers of blessing, an epiclesis, asking God's grace and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride. In the epiclesis of this sacrament, the spouses receive the Holy Spirit as the communion of love of Christ and the Church. The Holy Spirit is the seal of their covenant, the ever available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity. Right. Paragraph 1618-1624 Talk about virginity for the Sake of the Kingdom we recognize that, yes, from the very beginning, Jesus has talked about that there are those who give up marriage for the sake of the kingdom. And this again does not diminish the goodness of marriage. I love this quote from St. John Chrysostom. I love it so much I'm going to read the whole thing once again. Because we have to understand that Catholics and when it comes to the call of celibacy, when it comes to people who will be consecrated for the service of God's kingdom, though what they're saying is not marriage is bad. What they're saying is marriage is such a great good that I'm giving up this great good for the kingdom. And if I were to diminish marriage, I would also diminish virginity. And if I diminish virginity, I also diminish marriage, as I said. Here's the quote from St. John Chrysostom 1 more time. Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good. I just so good. And there are people, maybe even people who are listening to this podcast or part of this, who have done that. They are virgins for the sake of the kingdom. They're consecrated for the sake of the kingdom. So good we need their witness. Especially in a world where there's so much hedonism, right? In a world, there is so much. I mean, gosh, how could you possibly be happy if you're not having sex? Is kind of the message given by our world. In response, we have these people, we have brothers and sisters, we have monks and nuns, we have priests, we have those who are consecrated in the world. Right? All these people who have given up marriage for the sake of the kingdom, and they are living witnesses of. Oh, no, no. You can have joy even without a sexual relationship. You have joy in freedom, even in just giving yourself, in love, in service and in prayer with the Lord. And this is so good, so good. Again, we can have an argument about it, but sometimes we just like, ah, look at the joy of those people who are living their celibacy well, who are living their consecrated life well. Those who are living marriage well give witness to the goodness of marriage. And those who are living marriage not well, obviously don't give witness to marriage. Same thing when it comes to celibacy. Same thing when it comes to consecrated virginity for the sake of the kingdom. Those who are living it well, like, yes, that's awesome. And those who don't live it well are bad examples. Right? So we recognize that that's the model or the example to avoid. Right? So moving on to the celebration of marriage. No, this is so good, the celebration of marriage. What is it? It usually takes place during Holy Mass. Why? Because the Eucharist is the source and summit of all the Christian life. Right? So it's most fitting that when there's a marriage between two Catholics, that it's going to be in the context of Mass, So, so important. Now, at the same time, paragraph 1622 goes on to say that here is. Inasmuch as this is a sacramental action of sanctification, the liturgical celebration of marriage must be a couple things by its very self. It has to be valid, worthy and fruitful. Now, we're going to talk about those three categories in the future, but just to kind of highlight what that means has to be a valid marriage. That meaning, among other things, both members of the couple are free to marry. There are no impediments to marriage. So, for example, if one or both of the couple had been married before without a declaration of nullity, they would not be free to marry. There'd be an impediment if there's not full freedom there, that would be an impediment to marry. If there is not the intention for faithfulness or not the intention for. Of giving oneself totally to the other, then that'd be an impediment to marriage. If someone did not have the intention or even openness to life, to new life, that would be an impediment to marriage. And if the couple was not able to consummate the marriage in the Sexual embrace, that would not be a valid marriage. And so there are some categories or there are some things that need to be met here. Now, Moving on, paragraph 1623. This is an important thing to note as well. It says, according to the Latin tradition, the spouses, as ministers of Christ's grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of matrimony by expressing their consent before the church. So sometimes I'll meet people and say, oh yeah, you know, you married my sister, Father. Like, okay, Father Mike, you married my sister, you married my brother. I'm like, I promise you, I've never married anybody. They're like, oh, you know what I mean? And like, yes, I do know what you mean. But your sister married your brother in law and your brother in law married your sister. Because the proper ministers of the sacrament of matrimony are the bride and groom. That the groom gives the sacrament of matrimony to his bride, and the bride gives the sacrament of matrimony to her groom. Like, this is. It's so cool. And the priest is there as a witness. And it says in the Eastern churches, the bishops and priests, whoever's witnessing there, the priests, yes, they witnessed that mutual consent. But for the validity of the sacrament, their blessings also necessary. Last little note, here we are. There are so many aspects of the liturgy. There's some really beautiful prayers. One of those beautiful prayers, it's highlighted in paragraph 1624. It talks about this blessing in epiclesis, asking God's grace and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride. It's called the nuptial blessing. It happens right after the Our Father, before the sign of peace. And I basically say, you know, I invite the congregation to reign, standing as the bride and groom, kneel and go over to the bride and groom and extend this prayer blessing. In my bride of marriage book, there are three different options they could choose. For I always allow the couple to choose whatever one they want. But there's a special prayer, it's just asking God to just, you know, praising God and asking God to bless this couple. And then, you know, the priest turns and says, and God, ask for your special blessing upon this woman. And one of the lines that just is so powerful that may she be like those women whose praises are sung throughout the scriptures. I just, that line always just sticks out to me and so amazing. And then goes on to say, may her husband entrust his heart to her, consider her his equal, and realize that she is the joint heir with him to the life of grace. I just think, again, he entrusts his heart to her, see her as his equal, realize that she is joint heir with him into the life of grace. Just amazing. So beautiful. And the Holy Spirit, of course, is the seal of their covenant, the ever available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity. I think there's something remarkable about the fact that once a couple is married, everything they do, they do as a married person. The two become one, right? Everything they do is a married couple. So one of the things that will often happen, it's not strictly speaking in the marriage rite, but right after the exchange of rings, it goes right into the universal prayer, right? The prayers of the faithful. But sometimes there's this pause, like a moment of just. I don't want to rush past this moment because at that moment their marriage has been ratified. We're going to talk about that tomorrow. At that moment, the sacrament is ratified. And so I don't want to just rush off to the next piece. So what I'll often invite couples to do is, hey, if you want to do this, we can have a little song there, just even an instrumental thing where you just get to go and kneel before the tabernacle. Sometimes people go over to the side chapel, maybe bring flowers to the statue of Mary, whatever. But just take this moment and take a breath, take a beat and pray. And it's such an incredible sign that the first thing that these couples will do after their wedding as a married couple, the first thing they'll do is pray. I think that's so powerful, it's such a powerful witness. Because think about this. Everything the couple will do from then on, they'll do as part of the sacrament. They'll do as embodying the sacrament. That's why that last line in paragraph 1624 says, the Holy Spirit is the seal of their covenant, the ever available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity. This truth that everything you do, husband, you'll do as husband, everything you do wife, is as wife, everything you do is you're doing it. In some ways, I like to think it like this, as a living, walking, breathing, choosing loving sacrament. And that's just so incredible. We'll talk. Maybe we'll talk about it more as the days go on. But I just. I'm a big fan, you guys. I'm a big fan of marriage and just the grace, the gift it is to this world. Okay, that's enough. Enough me gushing about marriage. We're going to talk more and more about the matrimonial consent tomorrow because that's going to be big. And then going on from that about some of the big questions, like, what about mixed marriages? What about when someone's not baptized? Can you get married in this way or that way? And. And then we'll launch into the effects of the sacrament of matrimony. Like, what's it actually do? Does it help us? Hopefully, it does. Anyways, that's it for today, man. You guys, I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike, and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.