Catholic Marriage: A One-Flesh Union

"...and the two shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24

I went to a wedding of two friends yesterday. It's a beautiful thing to see two devout Catholics get married, because I know they understand the true meaning of what they are doing. It is not simply the next step in a relationship, the socially correct thing, or an "as long as it's good" commitment. It truly is a lifelong commitment in which two people freely choose to love the other - to become partners through good times and bad in order to get one another to Heaven. 

God is so wonderful about giving us tangible representations of invisible spiritual changes. One of these spiritual changes is within a marriage. Two people who have been existing separately now come together and form one flesh. From there on out, they are one. Everything that one does, says, desires, or feels affects the other.

Obviously one tangible representation of this spiritual change is that of the sexual union, but the couple whose wedding I attended yesterday did an amazing job of representing it another way within the wedding ceremony. They started out on opposite sides of the aisle - the bride sitting with her family and bridesmaids, the groom sitting with his family and groomsmen. They remained this way until after the vows, at which time the groom took his bride over to his side, and they remained together for the rest of the ceremony. We could see that they were then married! What a beautiful image!

May we always remember the true nature of marriage, and never take for granted its unmatched significance in our journey to Heaven!