A: Building a Home
Read:
All buildings have a foundation. The foundation of a building is what everything else is built on. If the foundation is bad, the building will probably collapse. The tallest buildings in the world have the very best foundations.
Bad Foundation
Your catechist has spaghetti and marshmallows. Try the following activities as a family.
- Build the highest tower you can build using the marshmallows and spaghetti. You can use as much as you need and you can tear the marshmallow or break the spaghetti to get the size or shape you want, but there is one rule. You must have one, and only one, whole, unaltered, marshmallow as a foundation. Nothing else can be used as a foundation for the tower.
- Next, do the same thing (making the tallest tower you can), but this time use four marshmallows as a foundation.
Discuss:
Which tower was higher?
Why do you think that tower was higher?
How did the foundation affect your towers?
Which tower is stronger?
Which tower would be easiest to knock over?
Read:
Chances are that your second tower is taller and stronger than your first. With a better foundation, more is possible. God is a master builder and so he knows how important a good foundation is. That is why He created the sacrament of Marriage to be the foundation for families to build on.
All buildings have a purpose. Some provide shelter and a place to sleep. Some provide a place to shop and still others provide a place to work. God made the sacrament of Holy Matrimony (marriage) to have a purpose too. This sacrament unites one man and one woman for the rest of their lives and gives them special graces to help them complete their two highest goals on Earth:
- Helping each other to get to heaven
- Lovingly accepting and raising children to be with God
B: Preparing and Understanding
Marriage has always been a part of God’s plan for humans. In Genesis, the first book of the bible, God teaches us about His plan for marriage beginning with the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Read the bible story from Genesis and discuss the questions.
After creating Adam…
“The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it...The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man…but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.” Genesis 2:15-20
Discuss:
God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” What is it like when we feel alone?
How do we feel when we are lonely and then a friend comes over?
Why couldn’t the animals be Adam’s wife?
What qualities should Adam’s wife have?
Read:
“So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs…The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is [like me]; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” Genesis 2:21-24
Discuss:
God made Eve out of Adam’s rib. Where are your ribs?
Earlier, God said He would make a partner for Adam. Partners work side-by-side (like where your ribs are). How do you treat partners?
How should you not treat your partner?
What does this teach us about how married couples should act?
C: Holy Matrimony
Read:
We just learned about how God created Adam and Eve for each other. He also created them for the very special purpose of having children so that all of us could be alive today to love and be loved by God.
God created each of us for a special purpose or Vocation. Our vocation is what God calls us to be in this world. God created some of us to be priests and some of us to be nuns, but most people were created to be married. Each of these vocations is needed in our world and every vocation is holy, but because our own vocation is what God specially made us for, it is how we can do the most good on Earth and what will bring each of us the most joy!
Discuss:
How do you think God shows us what our vocation is?
Adults, tell your student about a time when God led you to make an important decision.
How did you feel?
How did God lead you?
Read:
Many times, we don’t know our vocation for a long time. That is why the first and most important thing to do before making a choice about our vocation is to pray. God knows everything about us and always takes care of us. If God made you to be a married man or woman, He created one other very special person to be your husband or wife. That person is probably alive somewhere in the world right now (perhaps thinking of you). If we pray to God and ask Him to guide us, we will always find where we are supposed to be and whom we are supposed to be with. If a man and woman, after praying, feel that God is asking them to marry each other, they begin to prepare by discussing marriage with one of God’s priests.
Discuss:
What are some clues that we have found the person God wants us to marry?
How would this person act toward us and others?
If God wanted you to marry someone, what do you think their relationship with God would be like? Would they love and obey God? Would they respect the Church and God’s laws?
How would this person feel about children?
Activity:
Marriage helps couples and families “stick together” for life. Your catechists have poster board, glue, magazines and scissors. Make a collage of pictures that also help families “stick together.”
Read:
If a couple is called to marriage, they schedule a date for their wedding. When this time comes, a man and a woman freely make a vow (a solemn promise) in Church to love and serve one another as husband and wife for the rest of their lives and to accept children lovingly from God (just like Adam and Eve). A husband and a wife agree that this vow will never be broken, no matter what, because true love exists even when things are hard.
The Vows for Marriage:
Priest: (Name), do you take (name) to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her all the days of your life?
Groom: I do.
Priest: (Name), do you take (name) to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?
Bride: I do.
Discuss:
What does this vow teach us about marriage?
Read:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous…it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered…It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a
Discuss:
Describe what a person would be like if they loved their wife/husband like this scripture passage teaches?
Why is it hard to love someone like this passage teaches?
Who gives us the ability to love as this passage teaches and how can we get help from this person?
Read:
The Priest witnesses the couple’s vows and blesses the marriage. This is normally done in God’s house, the Church. There are many reasons for this. First, God’s house is where His family gathers and we want to make sure that our Catholic brothers and sisters can celebrate with us and pray for us as we begin our married lives. (We can always use prayer!) Secondly, in God’s house, we can have the Holy Mass and receive the Eucharist to strengthen us for the hard times we will face.
Finally, we normally make our vows in God’s Church because three people are needed for a holy marriage: a husband, a wife and God. When the couple makes their vows in the sacrament of Marriage, it is God who unites them for the rest of their lives. He also gives them the special graces they need to live as a married couple and to love and serve one another no matter what happens. As the couple lives out their married life, God continues to be with them and they can always call on God to help them.
Discuss:
Who is needed for a good marriage?
Why might it be important for married couples to pray together everyday?
Why might it be important for families to pray together often?