BY LAND
The Vocation to Marriage
To Our Parents & Families--
When we think of marriage, we may think of beautiful weddings, big parties, and wonderful love stories, but we should be thinking of something else as well — sainthood. We can prepare our hearts for that mission now by growing our relationship with God, so that when we are called to be a gift to another person, we are able to do so fully and joyfully.
The goal of By Land is for teens to understand that the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony requires spouses to become a self-gift to one another, and in doing so, they become a witness of sacrificial love to others. The conversation starters below will help you talk to your teen about the content they learned during the Life Night.
KEY CONCEPTS
- The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony calls a man and a woman to give the totality of themselves to one another as they walk together towards Eternal Life.
- Saints Louis and Zélie Martin practiced service in the family, creating a daily environment of faith and love that nurtured the vocations of their daughters, especially St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
- Learning what it means to be a self-gift to others now will prepare us for our personal vocation within the Church.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” (Genesis 2:18)
CATECHISM REFERENCE
“By its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement ‘until further notice.’ The ‘intimate union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the children, demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable union between them.’” (CCC 1646)
CONVERSATION STARTERS
- Have you ever looked at the person you are dating (or want to date) as someone you could potentially marry one day? How so?
- Did the examples of Sts. Louis and Zélie inspire you to want to become a parent? Why or why not?
- What do you think might be the hardest part about becoming a self-gift?