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Brochure of the Month: August 2020
Explaining the Reality of Marriage to Family and Friends
Many people understand marriage to be simply the recognition of a committed loving relationship, primarily for the benefit of the spouses. But marriage is much more, and the breakdown of marriage has led to 50 percent of births to women under 30 occurring outside marriage, leading to much greater numbers of children living in poverty and in fatherless homes. Marriage is an integral part of God’s plan for creation, and it has been recognized by every culture, society and religion.
Rebuilding a Christian marriage culture does not start with judging others but with our own conversion. To evangelize the culture, starting in our own families, it is crucial to study and transmit the teachings of the Church about love, marriage, and sexuality to our children, but also to present them in non-religious terms that reveal their truth, beauty and goodness.
Children have the right to be brought up within marriage, part of a family, secure in that permanent relationship with loving parents. “Marriage unites a man and a woman with each other and any children born from their union.” When considered through the eyes of the child, marriage is beautiful.
Links to the text on the USCCB website are here:
English and Spanish (these links are to 8.5 x 11 inch format.)