Genesis 1:26-28
26 Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.…
27 God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.
KEY POINTS
 Man Created in God’s
Own Image
 Male & Female
 GOD’S BLESSING: Be fertile & multiply; Fill the
Earth

Genesis 2:18, 24
18 The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him."
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.
KEY POINTS
 Suitable partner for man
= woman
 Suitable partner = βοηθός
( boēthos ); (life giving; essential)
 Man clings to his wife and the two become one flesh

Matthew 19:3-6
3 Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"
4 He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the
Creator 'made them male and female'
5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate."
KEY POINTS
 God made them Male &
Female to become one flesh
 Marriage is what God
Joins together

Ephesians 5:21-25
21 Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body.
24 As the church is subordinate to
Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her
KEY POINTS
 Subordination (follow; obedience; humility) is out of reverence for
Christ!
 Submissive: means to support her husbands mission.
 Husband’s mission to love his wife.
 Husbands are like Christ
 Wives are like the Church

Ephesians 5:21-25, 31-32
31 "For this reason a man shall leave (his) father and (his) mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32 This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.
KEY POINTS
 The 2  1 flesh
 The Great Mystery is in reference to Christ and the Church

John 2:1-12
Jesus, Disciples & Virgin
Mary
Wedding Feast at Cana
First Public Miracle of Jesus
KEY POINTS
 Sometimes Scripture
TELLS; sometimes
Scripture SHOWS
 First Miracle at Wedding isn’t random; it continues to SHOW the importance of Marriage

 According to the Talmud,
Rav Yehuda taught that
40 days before a male child is conceived, a voice from heaven announces whose daughter he is going to marry, literally a match made in heaven!
 Bashert = Soul Mate
 Day before the wedding bride & groom fast
 Veil of the bride symbolizes modesty & conveys that Soul &
Character are more important; Rebecca veiled her face before marrying Isaac (Gen
24:65)

DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE
St Ignatius (107 AD)
It befits the bridegroom and the bride to enter the nuptial relationship with the approval of the bishop so that marriage may be according to the Lord and not according to concupiscence
St. Augustine (389 AD)
Defends dignity and sanctity of Christian
Marriage
Pope Nicholas I (866 AD)
Consent of partners an essential element of
Christian Marriage
Pope Alexander III
(1159-1181)
Mutual consent makes marriage; bond is perfect
& becomes absolutely indissoluble through consummation

DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE
St. Thomas Aquinas (1272)
Three Goods of Marriage:
1. Blessing of Offspring
2. Fidelity & Love for each other
3. Indissoluble Sacrament of
Grace
Council of Constance (1418)
 He who rejects the solemnization of marriage sins mortally
Council of Florence (1439)
 17 th Ecumenical Council
 Reaffirms the 3 Goods of
Marriage
 Couples may separate on account of adultery, but they are still married and not permitted to contract another marriage because the marital bond is perpetual

 God created indissoluble bond of matrimony
 Christ instituted
Sacrament of Marriage as one of the 7 Sacraments
 Evangelical and Apostolic
Doctrine teach that the marriage bond cannot be dissolved
 Affirms the importance of celibacy and virginity

DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE
Pope Leo XIII, Arcanum Divinae Sapentiae,
On Christian Marriage (1880)
 Church’s authority over Marriage
Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii, On Christian Marriage (1930)
 Supernatural Mystery of Marriage & Graces of Marriage
 True marriage cannot be supplied by any human power
Lumen Gentium, Light to the Gentiles, Vatican II, (1964)
 Marriage = Christ & Church (Ecclesial Character)
Gaudium et Spes, Joy and Hope, Vatican II, (1965)
 Sacredness of Marriage & Family

 Abuses = not used for proper intention, purpose, or by intended user
 Remember:
Three Goods of Marriage:
1. Blessing of Offspring
2. Fidelity & Love between Man &
Woman
3. Indissoluble
Sacrament of Grace
 Sterilization
 Abortion
 Adultery
 Polygamy
 Infidelity
 Divorce
 Same Sex Unions

Blessed Pope John Paul The Great
 Nuptial Meaning of the Body
 The Language of the Body is
“Gift” – between man, woman and God
 The male & female body and sexual union proclaim God’s own eternal mystery of Love
 Love: Eros and Agape
 Spousal Analogy combined with love and fruitfulness
 The Communion of the sexes is the deepest foundation of human ethics and culture
 Pope John Paul II: The confusion of sexual morality involves a danger perhaps great than is generally realized: the danger of confusing the basic and fundamental human tendencies, the main paths of human existence.

SCRIPTURE:
OLD TESTAMENT:
1. Genesis 1:26-28
2. Genesis 2:18, 24
NEW TESTAMENT:
1. Matthew 19:3-6
2. John 2:1-12
3. Ephesians 5:21-25, 31-32
POPES:
1. Pope Nicholas I (866 AD)
2. Pope Alexander III (1159-1181)
3. Pope Leo XIII (1880)
4. Pope Pius XI (1930)
5. Pope Paul VI (1968)
6. Pope John Paul the Great (1981)
DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE:
COUNCILS:
1. Council of Constance (1418)
2. Council of Florence (1439)
3. Council of Trent (1563)
4. 2 nd Vatican Council (1964 & 65)
SAINTS:
1. St. Ignatius (107 AD)
2. St. Augustine (389 AD)
3. St. Thomas Aquinas (1272)

KEY POINTS:
 Man Created in God’s Own Image;
Male & Female; There is a dignity and
Sanctity to Christian Marriage
 GOD’S BLESSING: Be fertile & multiply; Fill the Earth
 Suitable partner for man = woman (life giving; essential)

God made them Male & Female; Man clings to his wife and the two become one flesh; God created indissoluble bond of matrimony; Marriage is what
God Joins together
 Christ instituted Sacrament of
Marriage as one of the 7 Sacraments
 Husbands are like Christ; Wives are like the Church; Subordination (follow; obedience; humility) is out of reverence for Christ!
 The 2:1 flesh; The Great Mystery is in reference to Christ and the Church

Enter the nuptial relationship with the approval of the bishop
 Couples may separate on account of adultery, but they are still married and not permitted to contract another marriage because the marital bond is perpetual ;
Evangelical and Apostolic Doctrine teach that the marriage bond cannot be dissolved
 Church’s authority over Marriage
 He who rejects the solemnization of marriage sins mortally

Supernatural Mystery of Marriage & Graces of Marriage
 Three Goods of Marriage:
1. Blessing of Offspring
2. Fidelity & Love between Man & Woman
3. Indissoluble Sacrament of Grace
 ABUSES OF MARRIAGE: Sterilization,
Abortion, Adultery, Polygamy, Infidelity,
Divorce, Same Sex Unions

Economic theory of households and business consider that a household exists as a means to provide for a division of labor.
Two adults marry so that each can increase their utility, understood as pleasure or satisfaction.
By contrast the neo-Scholastic assumption is that the main economic purpose of a household is the procreation, education and maintenance of human beings.
This means a household is built around the union between a man and a woman.

 A minimum of 6 months meeting with your parish priest
 Prayerfully Discerning
Marriage
 Readiness Assessment
(FOCCUS)
 Setting the Date
 To be held in a Catholic
Church
 Instruction on Marriage
 Basic teachings of the
Catholic Church
 Engaged Encounter
Weekend
 Natural Family Planning
 Liturgy Planning
 Sacrament of Marriage

• Established by the Bishop
• Published by the Family Life Office www.dioceseoflincoln.org

Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding & Study
• A comprehensive, user-friendly, affordable tool for professionals and lay individuals who are helping couples prepare for marriage.
• The 156-item, research-based inventory assesses couples' agreement, disagreement, or indecision about statements related to important issues, such as: communication, problem-solving, religion, family and friends, careers, cohabitation, parenting, sexuality,
finances and more.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1.
Marriage & Discipleship
2.
Why Get married in the Church
3.
What has to happen for you to
Marry?
4.
“Until Death Do Us Part”
5.
Marital Love & Sexuality
6.
In Marriage, Who’s the Boss?
7.
Communication
8.
Birth Control
9.
Natural Family Planning
10. Finances
11. The Wedding
12. The Honeymoon

The weekend consists of a series of presentations beginning Friday evening and ending Sunday afternoon.
Led by a team of married couples and a priest, the two of you are encouraged to talk privately with each other on many aspects of marriage, always from the viewpoint of your own relationship.
Among the subjects you will have an opportunity to discuss with each other are your ambitions, goals, attitudes about God, sex, money, children, family, and your role in the church and community.
Personal reflection and couple discussion are the main focus of our weekend.

A Faithful Response to Humanae Vitae www.popepaulvi.com
The Fertility Care TM Center of Omaha (FCCO) distributes this newsletter for college-aged and post-college-aged women.

1. Words of Affirmation
2. Gifts
3. Acts of Service
4. Quality Time
5. Physical Touch
Author: Dr. Gary Chapman
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Northfield Publishing; Reprint edition (January 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780802473158
ISBN-13: 978-0802473158

5 Languages of Apology
How to Experience Healing in All Your Relationships
1. Expressing Regret
(“I’m Sorry”)
2. Accepting Responsibility
(I was wrong & it’s my fault)
3. Making Restitution
(what can I do to make it right?)
4. Genuine Repentance
(I’ll try not to do that again)
5. Requesting Forgiveness
(Will you please forgive me?)

Practicing Marriage or Practicing Divorce?
Why Not Live Together
Beforehand?
• Try it before you buy it
• Financially I need a roommate
• I’m lonely
• Everybody does it
• We’re going to get married anyway
HOMEWORK:
• Read Handout
• Follow Instructions
Carefully
• DUE: End of Class

How to Avoid Marrying A Jerk!
• The HEAD: learn about 5 predictive areas
• The HEART: learn about 5 bonding dynamics in a relationship www.nojerks.com

How to Avoid Marrying A Jerk!
Five Key Areas to Grow to
Know (F.A.C.E.S.)
 Family Background
 Attitude & Actions of
Conscience
 Compatibility Potential
 Examples of Other
Relationships
 Skills of Communication

How to Avoid Marrying A Jerk!
 Cohabitation: Enduring or Entrapping
 Cohabitation: Practicing Marriage or Practicing Divorce?
 Better health, better sex, better financial wealth, better parenting outcomes
 STDs
 Sex is More than Physical (always relational & intensifies closeness)
 Do You Do as You Believe? (The things I do in my relationships will affect my future marriage …)
 Living for the Present While Risking Your Future: Waiting in Dating Can
Improve Sex in Marriage
 Living for the Present While Overlooking Your Future: Waiting in Dating Can
Improve Your Judgment  What you gain from pacing your Sexual
Involvement
 Attitude of the marital relationship (sacred & lifelong commitment?)
“The values you use will determine the partner you choose”

Attachment Theory & Three Common Causes of Unhealthy Relationship
Patterns
 Idealization  filling gaps with ideal image vs. experience
 Identification  imbalance in your own personality which you try to balance with someone else (key: fix yourself first, rather than attempting to use the relationship to balance you)
 Incarnation  reenacting previous relationship patterns with a different person

Why you Keep Making Mistakes in Relationships
 Only Seeing What you Want to See
 Using Love to Get your Act Together
 It has always been this way and it always will
Three Practical Principles for Pacing Reliance (I.R.A.)
 Principle of Investment (in the other person / relationship)
 Principle of Reciprocity (is it returned / mutual?)
 Principle of Accumulation (over time & in different situations)

• 1. Go over all the information regarding Marriage.
• 2. Get in your groups and each person summarize
6 most important truths about marriage a person should know and why.
• 3. Be ready to present your ideas to me orally.
• 4. Rubric: 10 pts everyone in the group must participate.
30 pts for substantial information given
30 pts for appropriate application of information
20 pts demonstrates a genuine understanding of the truths that they present.
10 pts anyone in the group is able to answer any questions that might be asked regarding the concepts presented by the group.