Vatican II on Marriage: Is It Relevant Today?

1. “Marriage, the constitution says, is a ‘vocation.’”

“Vocation” implies a serious commitment; something that is meant to be; a calling.  More and more in our society, marriage is becoming trivialized.  This era of Vegas chapels, 72-hour marriages, and multiple divorces makes the sacrament seem far less sacred than it is.  Our culture as a whole seems to be losing respect for marriage.  It is certainly not always viewed as a vocation.

2. “The council esteemed conjugal love as a sign to others of Christ’s own love for the church. And today it is not uncommon for church leaders to insist that the entire church benefits from the love within committed marriages and that a doubtful society needs to witness the possibility of such love.”

I have never before heard this view of conjugal love.  I think many people, even married couples, want to keep the church out of their sex lives.  So I personally think that for the Church to relate sex as “Christ’s own love for the church” and having the “entire church” benefit from the love within a committed marriage seems extremely strange.  In fact I think it would make many people uncomfortable (it certainly did for me).  Society in general, I think, views the church in a negative light when it comes to sex.  This statement to me seemed like the church was trying too hard to be accepting of sex (but only within marriage of course), but sort of fails epically.  It just comes across as weird.

3. “This marital and familial love finds its complete expression, following the example of Jesus himself, in a willingness to sacrifice oneself in everyday situations for one’s spouse and children.’”

This statement is actually very accurate.  I see this willingness to sacrifice exemplified everyday through my mother’s actions.  My mother is, as my dad puts it, the “nucleus” of our family.  I know that we would not be nearly as happy as we are were it not for her selflessness.

4. “As spouses fulfill their conjugal and family obligations, they are penetrated with the spirit of Christ.”

Ew I’m sorry but what?   This is so weird and creepy.  I keep picturing a bunch of old men sitting in this dark room together writing up this Constitution for the Church.  This makes me really uncomfortable.  It’s cultish and uber Christian and weird and ew.