Does anyone actually treat marriage as a vocation?

[Daegus]

Sometimes I wonder. I wonder what are the intentions behind many of the people who get married. Is it so that they can unite and serve Christ through being fruitful? Or is it so that they can unite to please each other and leave God out of the picture?

Do people really take marriage as a vocation, or something you just do because everyone else does it as a sign of maturity or what have you…?

I myself have been thinking about what God is calling me to do, whether it be the religious life, the priesthood, marriage… etc but I’ve got to sever the chains of sin that keep me down and make it hard for me to hear God’s calling first.

 

[Cat_Herder]

I do. I’m taking it on faith that God will provide a spouse if that is His will for my life. But in the meantime I’m giving thanks for what I have and sharpening the saw: storing away and investing money so that I can afford to raise a family; getting in physical and mental shape; and most importantly growing in my walk with Him.

 

[90Domer]

I think I can speak for me and my husband that we treat marriage as a vocation. We do marriage prep ministries in our church. However, and most importantly, we see through our son why God wanted man to have children in the confines of a Christian marriage. Our son relates totally different to us–he has a special relationship with each of us. That trickles down from a serious respect for our wedding vows. Sadly, I don’t think enough people treat them as such.

 

[Dorothy]

Sometimes I wonder. I wonder what are the intentions behind many of the people who get married. Is it so that they can unite and serve Christ through being fruitful? Or is it so that they can unite to please each other and leave God out of the picture?

Do people really take marriage as a vocation, or something you just do because everyone else does it as a sign of maturity or what have you…?

I myself have been thinking about what God is calling me to do, whether it be the religious life, the priesthood, marriage… etc but I’ve got to sever the chains of sin that keep me down and make it hard for me to hear God’s calling first.

Catholics are supposed to take marriage seriously, as a vocation, but I do not see too much evidence of this. And, where such devotion exists between married couples (they put God first), you can see it in the family and the behavior of the children

I know there are marriage preparation courses that are mandatory, and it seems that some go through with it because they want to get married in the Church. They already have ideas about how long they want to contracept so that they can be financially secure. As yet, I have not had a young couple share with me that at marriage preparation classes the Church’s moral teaching on contraception has been discussed. If so, it is to tell them to use their conscience. This is a big problem.

What saddened me most, when I was a CCD teacher, is that many parents did not take seriously the Catholic education of their children. Many children in my class were not taken to Mass on Sunday, nor was regular attendance at CCD classes taken seriously.

 

[DCNBILL]

To me the vocation of marriage involves two different aspects.

1. To give ourselves to the other in love in such a way that we love each other and our children into heaven.
2. To be part of the army of God to “go out into the world” and demonstrate by our words and example what it truly means to be a Christian, in love, to help bring creation back to God.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

About a year ago someone asked me when was it that I knew that marriage was my vocation. At that point I was only married for a year and never really thought of it as a vocation because nobody ever told me that. (I’m a convert, bad RCIA in my teens, didn’t look up literature on such topics out of ignorance).
Anyway, that was a turning point for me and I started praying for my marriage and treating it as a vocation. The way I relate to my husband has changed and I have developed a very strong sense of family and what my duty is.
Whenever people say in my presence that marriage is a piece of paper I try to explain that a Catholic marriage is different because it has a different purpose than a civil marriage.

 

[melchesidechpio]

I am only engaged at the moment, but I intend on treating marriage as a vocation and so is my bride to be. I have understood marriage as a vocation for quite some time, but our Catholic faith brings us together than anything else so putting God first shouldn’t be too difficult

 

[buffalo]

Yes.

 

[joandarc2008]

I am only engaged at the moment, but I intend on treating marriage as a vocation and so is my bride to be. I have understood marriage as a vocation for quite some time, but our Catholic faith brings us together than anything else so putting God first shouldn’t be too difficult

Congrats on your engagement and good luck.

I did treat marriage as a discernment to a vocation - unfortunately I found something out - there was another person involved that was not doing the same. So needless to say one cannot be in a vocation that involves another person without the other person. That is why I don’t take it lightly that I made vows and those vows cannot be dispensed with. I can receive a decree of nullity if it is found to be invalid but that is it. Too many people today treat marriage as something that can be thrown away if it “does not work out.”

 

[melchesidechpio]

Congrats on your engagement and good luck.

I did treat marriage as a discernment to a vocation - unfortunately I found something out - there was another person involved that was not doing the same. So needless to say one cannot be in a vocation that involves another person without the other person. That is why I don’t take it lightly that I made vows and those vows cannot be dispensed with. I can receive a decree of nullity if it is found to be invalid but that is it. Too many people today treat marriage as something that can be thrown away if it “does not work out.”

Thanks for the good luck and congrats. We’ve had some wonderful role models for marriage. My parents have been married 28 years, hers 39, my mom’s parents 45 before grandpa’s passing. I am truly sorry things didn’t work between you and your ex. I am glad though that you did treat marriage as a discernment to vocation.The Secular Franciscan vocation and the marriage vocation fell with in months of each other. I pray every day for your happiness.