Marriage as a Commodity

Marriage and family life according to the Church and recounted often by John Paul II is “governed and enriched by Christ’s redeeming power and the saving activity of the Church, so that this love may lead the spouses to God with powerful effect and strengthen them in the sublime office of being a father or a mother (GS. P. 272).”  Too often today marriage is seen as something like a capstone, one more trophy to add to your collection of life stones and is all about what you can get out of it.  But the Church teaches a completely contradictory understanding of marriage and paints of picture of an institution which is at once completely human in its function and execution, revolving around one of the most human of actions and comprised of human affection for another and Divine in that it has been elevated to a level such that the vows given at the marriage are added to the Baptismal vows and it is by this very marriage that one attains Heaven.  It is the starting point, the new status quo from which you begin life and really has nothing to do with yourself.  

By its very nature marriage is “ordained toward the begetting and educating of children… Hence, while not making the other purposes of Matrimony [i.e., the unification and sanctification of the spouses] less account, the true practice of conjugal love, and the whole meaning of the family life which results from it, have this aim: that the couple be ready with stout hearts to cooperate with the love of the Creator and the Saviour, Who through them will enlarge and enrich His own family day by day (GS, P 275).”  Marriage is about children, children are to Marriage what Marriage is to life once entered into, that is, a starting point and a new outlook that informs every aspect of life.  

How far is this imagery from what we see today.  Marriage is a farce which is seen as nothing more than an external and social acceptance and verification of the living and sleeping arrangements of the couple.  Children are the new commodity, being bought through IVF, selective adoption practices, and proxy pregnancies where you rent a womb from another country resulting in many abortions while searching for the right fetus.  Children are also being sold through womb leasing, donation of eggs and selling of sperm, through the many abortions that are performed.  In short, Children are the topping of the cake meant only for the rich and to fill some deep seated need in the phsyce of those engaged in the activities and decision making.  The real struggle Marriage faces today is one of identity.  As a society we cannot even recognize a Marriage when we see one, and it has come so far from its purpose and means of fulfillment.  Marriage needs to regain its own sense of integrity and identity