Do Married Couples Stay Together in Heaven?

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Marriage either continues or it doesnt. Parceling aspects of marriage does not mean marriage is still applicable.

Recognized? Sure, it’s probably recognized that a couple were married. And the couple’s love for one another doesnt go away or diminish. But marriage as the Sacrament, pertains to this life, not heaven.
 
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Using the scripture passage above is imprecise and does not answer the question. The OP was asking about the couples, that is people. Jesus said that there is no marrying, which really does not address the fate of couples already married. To be more precise he was answering the legal question posed to him, as such a matter was important to the people of his time, that is, what man gets to keep this woman. I do not even know if that has meaning today. You have to consider the context and the audience, to derive anything past the literal meaning, which is only that there will not be marrying, not marriage.

I would encourage anyone concerned about the issue to take any beliefs here with a grain of salt. Like most things in Heaven, this is not something the Church has defined. You notice there is not a lot of links or quoting of doctrine here. Most of what we think the Church teaches has been speculation, like Limbo, which at times has been more popular, and at times less.
 
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pnewton said:
Also, it is imprecise and does not answer the question. The OP was asking about the couples, that is people. Jesus said that there is no marrying, which really does not address the fate of couples already married. To be more precise he was answering the legal question posed to him, as such a matter was important to the people of his time, that is, what man gets to keep this woman. I do not even know if that has meaning today. You have to consider the context and the audience, to derive anything past the literal meaning, which is only that there will not be marrying, not marriage.
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The Church answers that. It teaches that the bond of marriage is broken at death.
 
I am open to actual Church teaching, if anyone has any on the question the OP asked. I understand the Sacramental nature is designed for this life, but I do not believe it answers the question. Again, there are pretty much just laypeople posting opinions.
Inquiry said:
If you say so. That article and several of the others have some pretty convincing discussions of how, even if some aspects of marriage do not continue in heaven, many do.
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There are a lot of convincing arguments. That maybe what the Church has not defined a lot. Or maybe that is just something we do not need to know, as it will take care of itself.
 
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Right, otherwise no one would be able to marry after a spouses death.

Jesus answered the question very clearly.
 
Yes, but that’s the very nature of sacraments. It’s not like we need the same visible signs when we are already in Heaven. But we wouldn’t say that people are no longer Baptised, but that their Baptism has been fulfilled. We wouldn’t say the Eucharist doesn’t exist in Heaven, instead it’s been perfected as something far fuller and grander.
 
Consider the question of the pharisees to Jesus…

A person who had more than one spouse in this life. Who are they married to in the next?

Jesus explains life after death and resurrection, is new. And so marriage is not practiced in this new state.

Death ends marriage.
 
You also would have to consider the ramifications of a married couple, where one spouse attains heaven and the other does not!!

How does that marriage continue?

How can a person in heaven be bonded with a person in hell?
 
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Sadducees. And note, they raised the issue of a woman with multiple husbands. They did not raise the issue of a man with multiple wives because it wouldn’t even occur to them that was a problem. Which underscores that the question was asked in a legalistic sense. Unsurprising, the legal realities of this world have little place in Heaven.

Things like imperfect love, distraction, and jealousy are presumably not a part of Heaven, so I’m not sure why having two spouses would be an issue there.

And as for the ramifications of one of the two not entering Heaven… If a parent doesn’t enter Heaven and the child does, do they cease being parent and child? If one brother enters Heaven and the other doesn’t, do they cease being brothers?

Because marriage among all of the sacraments has unique legal ramifications, I can see some technical reasons why we might not want to refer to its perfection by the same name. But when people ask about marriage in Heaven they generally aren’t referring to legal technicalities.
 
Biological relations are not a Sacrament.

This question has to do with Marriage.

How do you think marriage will be relative in heaven?

Jesus expresses that it wont have a function.

There wont be sex, or children to raise, or support of financial sustainability, or support to overcome sin…

Marriage pertains to this life, EVEN if love pertains to marriage. Marriage is a sign of the union with all the faithful and the Lord. We will all be equally joined to the groom. No more exclusive relationships.

Jesus was expressing things about the nature of heaven and how it is very different from the nature of life in this world.
 
We agree that the needs and realities of this life have no application to Heaven. Why then did you ask about someone having two spouses, something clearly linked to the reality of this life?

Also, full union with the groom is not an indication that we somehow lose our individuality or the unique relationships we have with people. This isn’t a “when everyone is special, no one is” kind of deal. Our relationship with others may be raised to the same level, but those relationships should never be looked at as interchangeable.
 
You arent accepting that marriage is for this life, and dissolves at death.

Jesus’ response relies on this principle.

Roman’s 7
Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.… But if her husband dies she is free from that law.

Luke 20
And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Mark 12
For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Jesus refutes the idea that marriage is continued after death. This is why He says, AFTER the resurrection they neither marry or are given in marriage. You see? He establishes that death ends marriage, and marriage does not happen again. It no longer has a function, because it pertains to this world.
 
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No, I caught that bit, we are just quibbling over the full ramifications of what it means. This is unsurprising as there seems to be considerable opinion on the subject.
 
Inquiry said:
Things like imperfect love, distraction, and jealousy are presumably not a part of Heaven, so I’m not sure why having two spouses would be an issue there.
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Well now you claim heaven will contain polygamy.
 
thistle said:
The bond of marriage is broken at death. This is a Church teaching.
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This leads to a question I posed to my husband yesterday. Every other Sacrament puts an indelible mark on our souls that stays there even after death (cf. “you are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek…” from Holy Orders). What’s so different about the Sacrament of Matrimony? And how, if it lacks this aspect, can we consider it on par with the other Sacraments?

I’m not attacking the fact that marriage is a great social and spiritual good, but I have been wondering what, exactly, raises it to the level of a Sacrament.

(This may need to be another thread.)
 
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Ammi said:
This question has to do with Marriage.
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The question was whether married couples stayed together in Heaven.
Ammi said:
There wont be sex
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That is a different question, and an interesting one. I found this by Dr. Kreeft a while back.

https://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/sex-in-heaven.htm

One thing he says is, “We cannot know what X-in-Heaven is unless we know what X is.” That is why splitting apart the dynamic that we call marriage is essential. Some things are obvious, like the ending of the legal significance in terms of property. But in most areas the Church has not spoken. I have now mentioned this three times.
 
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From here: No Marriage in Heaven | Catholic Answers

“Sacraments like marriage are “road signs” that point us to our final heavenly destination and give us the grace to continue that journey. But when you reach your destination, road signs are no longer needed, and so sacraments such as baptism, confession, and even marriage will not exist in heaven (though the indelible marks on our souls we receive from sacraments like baptism or holy orders will remain with us for all eternity).”
 
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Ammi said:
Can you explain what “stayed together” means?
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The poster used the asked, “Do they separate and lose their love for each other in heaven? or is it made stronger through Christ?” Without them coming back to clarify, it seems a question of whether there is still a unique relationship of a couple, as two who have been married on Earth. Might there be an indelible mark for two who are willed to the good of the other for life? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t rule it out, or rule out dogs either.

So little of Heaven has been revealed to the Church on Earth, I do not understand all these absolute statements made as facts.
 
Marriage is a commitment and giving of each other exclusively. Heaven is not oriented like this. There will not be marriage in heaven, because all will be one and love each other as one body United to one groom.

Jesus did reveal this to us.

Love for anyone here on earth wont diminish. But it wont be exclusive, like marriage because exclusiveness has purpose and function here.

If marriage had purpose and function in heaven, people would get married there too. But it is obsolete in heaven. Jesus revealed this.
 
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