Cardinal Marc Ouellet discusses in his work, Mystery and Sacrament of Love: A Theology of Marriage and Family for the New Evangelization, nuptial love and the nuptial mystery as well as the sacramental nature of marriage. Written in 2015, this text is a modern interpretation of the Church’s teaching on this matter, heavily building on ideas of one of his predecessors, Pope John Paul II. One can see the how Pope John Paul II influenced Ouellet’s work through examining Ouellet’s accounts of the sacramentum tantum, res et sacramentum and res tantum of marriage. In looking at Ouellet’s account of the sacramentum tantum, one can see how Pope John Paul II work influenced Ouellet. The sacramentum tantum is the sign that causes and is not itself caused
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In Ouellet’s discussion of fecundity, he outlines that in marriage, a couple’s love is converted into both a sign and instrument for God’s love and therefore they enter into a covenant with God to be open to bearing children. This ‘duty’ towards parenthood is very reflective of John Paul’s work. In the Familiaris Consortio, John Paul speaks of three vocations to motherhood, fatherhood and childhood. On the vocation of childhood John Paul says, Each of these vocations are contained within the bond of marriage and are described as not only an essential part of a Catholic marriage, but also for the continuation and development of the human race. In talking about the nature of indissolubility, Ouellet says, “the indissolubility of Christian marriage flows above all from its structure as a spousal covenant ‘in Christ.’ God willed marriage in the order of creation as an indissoluble reality… the marriage-sacramental confirms and ratifies this indissolubility, inserting it into the mystery of Christ’s covenant with the Church” (Ouellet, 95). John Paul says in his work Theology of the Body, “Redemption [of Christ and the Church within marriage] becomes at the same time the basis for understanding the particular dignity of the human body, rooted in the personal dignity of the man and the woman. The reason for this …show more content…
In developing his account of the sacramentum tantum, res et sacramentum and res tantum of marriage, Ouellet pulls many concepts and ideas from John Paul’s works such as consent as a sign of marriage or how the grace of the nuptial bond is a representation of the love of Christ and the Church and reminds the Church of her identity. Both John Paul and Ouellet’s texts are profound works on the sacrament of marriage and have helped to solidify the Church’s official position and teachings on
In Ouellet’s discussion of fecundity, he outlines that in marriage, a couple’s love is converted into both a sign and instrument for God’s love and therefore they enter into a covenant with God to be open to bearing children. This ‘duty’ towards parenthood is very reflective of John Paul’s work. In the Familiaris Consortio, John Paul speaks of three vocations to motherhood, fatherhood and childhood. On the vocation of childhood John Paul says, Each of these vocations are contained within the bond of marriage and are described as not only an essential part of a Catholic marriage, but also for the continuation and development of the human race. In talking about the nature of indissolubility, Ouellet says, “the indissolubility of Christian marriage flows above all from its structure as a spousal covenant ‘in Christ.’ God willed marriage in the order of creation as an indissoluble reality… the marriage-sacramental confirms and ratifies this indissolubility, inserting it into the mystery of Christ’s covenant with the Church” (Ouellet, 95). John Paul says in his work Theology of the Body, “Redemption [of Christ and the Church within marriage] becomes at the same time the basis for understanding the particular dignity of the human body, rooted in the personal dignity of the man and the woman. The reason for this …show more content…
In developing his account of the sacramentum tantum, res et sacramentum and res tantum of marriage, Ouellet pulls many concepts and ideas from John Paul’s works such as consent as a sign of marriage or how the grace of the nuptial bond is a representation of the love of Christ and the Church and reminds the Church of her identity. Both John Paul and Ouellet’s texts are profound works on the sacrament of marriage and have helped to solidify the Church’s official position and teachings on