“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her”
Ephesians 5:25
A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality that gives grace. In marriage, the visible sign is the love that a husband and wife have for each other. The invisible reality to which they point is the love that Jesus has for his bride, the Church. In the Sacrament of Marriage, God gives grace, that is to say, supernatural power, to make His own love, mercy, generosity, kindness, and compassion tangible.
The task of marriage is to make the invisible God visible by the love a husband and wife have for each other. They do this first for one another, then for their children if God should bless them with children, and then for all those who know them. Knowing how hard real love is, we pray daily for those of you who are married, so that you might be beautiful witnesses of God’s love.
The Gospel of John gives us an account of how Jesus was invited to a wedding in Cana. It was at the celebration of marriage that Jesus performed His first miracle. This is no coincidence, but a deliberate honoring of marriage as a union of love between a man and a woman as a symbol of Christ’s own love for His church.