Opening Prayer/Scripture Reading:

'You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.' (Hebrews 5:6)

'God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.' (Genesis 1:27-28)

Catholic Update:

Sacraments of Holy Orders

Sacrament of Marriage-Sign of Faithful Love

Natural Family Planning

Summary:

Through the sacraments of service: Holy Orders and Matrimony, those already baptized and confirmed receive particular vocations in service of God, the Church and the human family. Those who receive Holy Orders are consecrated or set apart in Christ's name to 'feed the Church by the word and the grace of God'. And husbands and wives who receive the sacrament of Matrimony are strengthened and blessed for the dignity and duties of the sacrament of marriage.

a. Holy Orders as a sacrament of service is the sacrament of 'apostolic ministry' through which the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles continues to be exercised in the Church. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate. (CCC 1533-1600)

b. In the service and person of the ordained minister, Christ, the high priest, is himself present to the Church. The priestly ministry reaches it summit in the priests' celebration of the Eucharist which is the source and center of the Church's unity.

c. All the baptized are a priestly people sharing in the priesthood of Christ. Based on this common priesthood the sacrament of Holy Order is another participation in Christ's mission where the task of the ordained minister is to serve in the name and person of Christ the Head in the midst of the community. (CCC 1591)

d. The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a prayer of consecration. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character. The Church confers Holy Orders on baptized men following Christ who chose men to be the twelve apostles and their successors. (CCC 1572-1580)

e. The sacrament of marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman who form an intimate communion of life and love. Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament at Cana (John 2: 1-11) (CCC 1601, 1612-1617)

f. God himself is the author of marriage. Since God created man and woman their mutual love is an image of God's love for humanity. As a sacrament of the Church marriage is not a purely human institution but comes from the hand of the Creator (CCC 1603-1605)

g. The spouses, as ministers of God's grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church. The Holy Spirit is the seal of their covenant and the source of their love and the strength to mutual fidelity. (CCC 1621-1637)

h. Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. Spouses are given the grace to love each other with the love which Christ loved his Church. The grace of this sacrament perfects the love of spouses, strengthens their unity and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life. (CCC 1661)

i. Unity, indissolubility and openness to life are essential to marriage. (CCC 1643-1654)

Discussion Questions:

1. How is the ordained priesthood related to the common priesthood of all the baptized? (CCC 1142, 1547)

2. How is the sacrament of marriage as a covenant different from the understanding of marriage as a contract?

Scripture References/Quotations:

Holy Orders:

Hebrews 5:10; 6:20; 7:26; 10:14

Acts 1:8; 2:4

John 20: 22-23

1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6-7

Matrimony:

Genesis 2:18-25

Mark 10:9; John 2:1-11

Ephesians 5:25, 32

Suggestions For Further Reading:

Sacrament of Holy Orders - CCC 1533-1600

Sacrament of Matrimony - CCC 1601-1666

Documents of the Second Vatican Council, Presbyterorum Ordinis, Christus Dominus, and Gaudium et Spes, articles 47-52 (The Dignity of Marriage and the Family)

Pope John Paul II, I Will Give You Shepherds, Pastores Dabo Vobis, 1992

Pope John Paul II, Consecrated Life, Vita Consecrata, 1996

Pope John Paul II, Lay Members of Christ's Faithful, Christifidelis laici, 1988

Closing Prayer

Our Father