1. Jesus and Mary sanctified by their presence the marriage of Cana in Galilee and on that occasion Our Lord worked His first miracle. He raised the marriage contract to the dignity of a sacrament, perhaps also at Cana. Later, St. Paul would compare the union of man and wife in matrimony with the union between Christ and His Church and would urge husbands to love their wives "as Christ also loved the Church and delivered Himself up for it." The union between Christ and His Church is effected by God and that is why, in speaking of marriage and showing how the two unions are similar, Our Lord said: "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder."
Hence God joins man and wife together. At once this truth throws immense light on the sacredness of marriage. We speak of a young man preparing for the priesthood as having a "vocation." It can be said with equal truth that a couple kneeling at the altar to be married have also been richly blessed and favored by God with a divine vocation. From all eternity He has planned that these two should meet, should enter on this way of life and, by living in it according to His laws, should thus work out their eternal salvation.
Our outlook on marriage tends to become warped. So much stress is laid on the physical side that we are in real danger of forgetting that marriage is God's institution, and that those who enter upon it do so, or should, in response to a divine invitation. The deciding factor for those contemplating marriage is not, or certainly should not be, merely the wealth or big business, or merely the social advantages it will bring. Such things need not be entirely disregarded, but the one allimportant question is: "Does God will this marriage for me? Lord, what do You want me to do?"
When a priest is ordained, he receives immense graces to fit him to fulfill the obligations and to work towards the realization of the ideals that are proper to the priesthood. When a man and woman enter upon the vocation to married life, the first thing they do is to administer the Sacrament to each other. It is not the priest who marries them; he is present as the Church's official witness to bless the union. But the contracting parties give the Sacrament to each other; hence the first gift of the groom to his bride and of the bride to her husband is an increase of sanctifying grace. Further, by virtue of this Sacrament, they each establish a claim on God for the actual graces they will need in order to live in harmony and discharge faithfully the sacred obligations of their vocation.
The beautiful prayers of the Church assigned for the marriage ceremony are fragrant with these ideas. "As this institution is the gift of Thy bounty, do Thou so dispose of it according to Thy Will. . . . Hear us, almighty and merciful God, that what is done by our ministry may be abundantly fulfilled with Thy blessing."
God has given to man and woman a sacred power by the use of which they cooperate with Him, as Creator, in the work of peopling this world with human beings, and, what is much more important, peopling heaven with immortal souls. In the priesthood marvelous powers are granted to the priest to consecrate, and to bless, and to forgive sins. These powers belong by right to God alone, but He deigns actually to share them with His priest. When bride and groom walk down together from the altar, God has given to them also certain sacred powers by which to assist Him in the task of creating souls for heaven. What a sad travesty when this sacred power is made merely to pander to man's animal instincts!
Jesus, let me pray for the proper attitude towards this great sacrament. Whether it be my vocation or not, teach me to realize how sacred is this vocation, how divine is this union, how holy is the power You give and permit to be used by those on whom You bestow this sacred vocation.