UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA

OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY

Taal, Batangas

MODULE IN THEOLOGY III: LITURGY AND SACRAMENTS

Module No. 11 Date:

TITLE

I Believe in Forever

OVERVIEW

To follow a particular calling, you need a sacred and well-thought out decision because it
entails a lifetime commitment. You have to stay faithful to the calling of your choice all
throughout your life. There are three basic callings or vocation in life – single-blessedness,
married life and consecrated life or ordained ministry. Each one of you has to listen with
your heart and decide freely which vocation you are called to enter and respond to. You
have to decide in the near future which calling you will heed.

In this module, you students will learn the three basic callings or vocations in life, but with
the focus on the Sacrament of Matrimony.

OBJECTIVES

 Explain the sacrament of matrimony and the importance of marriage in the

Christian life of the couple.
 Differentiate the different vocations/callings one may fit in: married life,
consecrated/religious life, and single-blessedness.
 Make a creative means of promoting a particular vocation/calling.

CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

Doctrine: Even before given birth, God has called us into a specific vocation. Whatever
calling it is, we are always one with Him.
Moral: Be God’s steward of love, in any call we are to take.
Worship: Exemplify the importance of commitment and fidelity to your calling/vocation, and
relationships with God.

CONTENT

I. INITIAL ACTIVITY (I DO! – A Long and Lasting Love)

Answer the questions faithfully.
1. If you are to get married, describe your ideal husband or wife. How would you like
him or her to be?
2. How would you like your marriage to be? If you see yourself not getting married,
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

how do you see yourself in the years to come?

3. Imagine writing or composing vows for someone you love and will marry in the
future. For those who would not marry, address your vows to God. What would the
content be like?

II. THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY

Marriage, as an institution, is very important that Jesus raised the marriage between
Catholics to the level of sacrament: “The matrimonial covenant between baptized persons
has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament. For their reason, a
matrimonial contract cannot validly exist between baptized persons unless it is also a
sacrament by that fact.” (CCL 1055; cf. CCC 1617)

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves
a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses
and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons
has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

Matrimony comes from the Latin words matris and munus which mean “duty of
motherhood”. This etymological meaning indicates God’s purpose of marriage.

III. MARRIAGE IN GOD’S PLAN

Marriage was made by God when He created our first parents, Adam and Eve. In the book
of Genesis we read, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his
wife, and the two of them become one body.” (Genesis 2:24)

A. Marriage in the order of creation

God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate
vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who
is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an
image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. Holy Scripture affirms
that man and woman were created for one another: "It is not good that the man should be
alone." The woman, "flesh of his flesh," his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him
by God as a "helpmate"; she thus represents God from whom comes our help. "Therefore
a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one
flesh." The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by
recalling what the plan of the Creator had been "in the beginning": "So they are no longer
two, but one flesh."

B. Marriage under the regime of sin

Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This experience makes itself
felt in the relationships between man and woman. Their union has always been threatened
by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into
hatred and separation. Nevertheless, the order of creation persists, though seriously
disturbed. To heal the wounds of sin, man and woman need the help of the grace that God
in his infinite mercy never refuses them. Without his help man and woman cannot achieve
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

the union of their lives for which God created them "in the beginning."

C. Marriage under the pedagogy of the Law

Moral conscience concerning the unity and indissolubility of marriage developed under the
pedagogy of the old law. In the Old Testament the polygamy of patriarchs and kings is not
yet explicitly rejected. Nevertheless, the law given to Moses aims at protecting the wife
from arbitrary domination by the husband, even though according to the Lord's words it
still carries traces of man's "hardness of heart" which was the reason Moses permitted
men to divorce their wives. The books of Ruth and Tobit bear moving witness to an
elevated sense of marriage and to the fidelity and tenderness of spouses. Tradition has
always seen in the Song of Solomon a unique expression of human love, insofar as it is a
reflection of God's love - a love "strong as death" that "many waters cannot quench."

D. Marriage in the Lord

The nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared the way for the
new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God, by becoming incarnate and giving
his life, has united to himself in a certain way all mankind saved by him, thus preparing for
"the wedding-feast of the Lamb." The matrimonial union of man and woman is
indissoluble: God himself has determined it "what therefore God has joined together, let no
man put asunder."

This is what Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her," adding at
once: "'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ
and the Church."

E. Virginity for the sake of the Kingdom

Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other
bonds, familial or social. Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way
of life, of which he remains the model.

Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a
powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ, a sign which also recalls that
marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away. Both the sacrament of
Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who
gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out
in conformity with his will. 

IV. THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE

Marriage is a visible sign of Christ’s covenant with the Church. In it , the partners are
required to be faithful to each other, which reflects God’s fidelity with mankind and Christ’s
fidelity to His Church.

In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

place during Holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the Paschal
mystery of Christ. It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give
themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering
of Christ for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the
Eucharist so that, communicating in the same Body and the same Blood of Christ, they
may form but "one body" in Christ.

Though St. Paul alluded to marriage as a sacrament, the mark argument that marriage is
a sacrament is from the constant teaching and practice of the Church.

V. MATRIMONIAL CONSENT
The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable
element that "makes the marriage." If consent is lacking there is no marriage.

The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to
each other": "I take you to be my wife" - "I take you to be my husband." This consent that
binds the spouses to each other finds its fulfilment in the two "becoming one flesh." It must
be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external
fear. No human power can substitute for this consent. If this freedom is lacking the
marriage is invalid.

The priest (or deacon) who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of
the spouses in the name of the Church and gives the blessing of the Church. The
presence of the Church's minister (and also of the witnesses) visibly expresses the fact
that marriage is an ecclesial reality.

This is the reason why the Church normally requires that the faithful contract marriage
according to the ecclesiastical form. Several reasons converge to explain this requirement:
- Sacramental marriage is a liturgical act. It is therefore appropriate that it should be
celebrated in the public liturgy of the Church;
- Marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order, and creates rights and duties in
the Church between the spouses and towards their children;
- Since marriage is a state of life in the Church, certainty about it is necessary
(hence the obligation to have witnesses);
- The public character of the consent protects the "I do" once given and helps the
spouses remain faithful to it.

So that the "I do" of the spouses may be a free and responsible act and so that the
marriage covenant may have solid and lasting human and Christian foundations,
preparation for marriage is of prime importance.

VI. THE EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY

"From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is
perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a Christian marriage the spouses are
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

strengthened and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and the dignity of their state by a
special sacrament."

A. The marriage bond

The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by
God himself.  The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with
man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love." Thus the marriage bond has
been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and
consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved. This bond, which results
from the free human act of the spouses and their consummation of the marriage, is a
reality, henceforth irrevocable, and gives rise to a covenant guaranteed by God's fidelity.

B. The grace of the sacrament of Matrimony

This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple's love
and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they "help one another to attain
holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children." Christ is the
source of this grace. Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their
crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to
bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," and
to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and
family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb.

VII. THE DOMESTIC CHURCH

Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary.
The Church is nothing other than "the family of God."

It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family
exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the
sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active
charity." Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human
enrichment." Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous -
even repeated - forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of
one's life.

We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the
particular circumstances in which they have to live - often not of their choosing - are
especially close to Jesus' heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active
solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors. Many remain without a human family often
due to conditions of poverty. Some live their situation in the spirit of the Beatitudes,
serving God and neighbor in exemplary fashion. The doors of homes, the "domestic
churches," and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. "No
one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone,
especially those who 'labor and are heavy laden.'"

VIII. THE MINISTER

 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

In every sacrament, it is the minister who uses the matter and form which make up the
outward sign. In marriage, the actual sign is made up by the contracting parties
themselves. Therefore, they are the ministries of the sacrament. The priest who invokes
God’s blessing during the ceremony is just the Church’s witness to the contract entered
into by the parties.

IX. THE THREE BASIC CALLINGS/VOCATIONS IN A CHRISTIAN LIFE

a. Single-blessedness
 It's when a person/ persons are committed to being single. This gives them
the opportunity to become closer to God, to love God, and serve others. People
that are single are free from the obligations to family. This makes single people
more reliable to help and serve the Catholic Church, assist the needy, and care for
themselves and other. By being free from obligations of community, and family,
they have potential to enrich them personally, and can benefit humankind. Some
examples of vocations that people following a single life can display within their
communities are, being nans, social worker and a teacher. By single
people pursuing their vocations, the gifts and talents they receive from God are
used to follow out their vocations, and to improve them. Some gifts and talents
people receive to pursue their vocations are, patience, forgiveness, love, and
respect. By single people using these gifts and talents, they can live out the 'calling/
callings' from God.

b. Married life
This reflects God's infinite love that he has for us. Marriage symbolizes Christ's
love for the Church and his followers. By a man and a woman being united by
marriage and children, they express the love that a married couple have. This
shows the love that the couple has for God, the members of the Church, and their
community. Some examples of vocations that people receive even if married are
parenthood, teaching, and psychologist. These are some vocations that people can
do even if they are married or not. Some gifts and talents that are in involved to be
married and do these vocations are, patience, kindness, respect, and intelligent. By
using these gifts and talents, people that are married can improve their relationship
between them and their partner, with God and others.

c. Religious/Consecrated life
Religious life is when priests, sisters, and brothers commit their life to God,
rather than being in a romantic or sexual relationship. These people devote
themselves to the Church, to the needy, to their communities, and to charity work.
By following the vocation of a religious life, priests, nuns, and brothers spend most
their time in prayer with God, and serving their Catholic community. Even those
people can purse the vocation of a priest; they can still become a teacher or even a
scientist. Many priests, decades ago, were also teachers and scientists, and have
changed history. Also, nuns and brothers could teacher at schools as well as
serving God. Some gifts and talents that people pursing in the vocation of religious
life have are, patience, hope, kindness, forgiveness, honesty, and generosity. By
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

priests, nuns, and brothers having these gifts to purse the vocation of a religious
life, they can also use them to teach, and do scientific research. By using these
gifts and talents in the right and respectful way, people that have a vocation to be
part of the religious life can improve society, their Catholic communities, and their
way of life. They can also inspire others when pursing their vocation through their
gifts and talents.

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

TASK 1
Give your explanation on the given phrases regarding the sacrament of Matrimony. The
ideas must be substantial and related to the topic.

1. Mutual acceptance
2. For the husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the Church
3. No longer two, but one

TASK 2
Considering the calling/vocation you see yourself years from now, how would you make
yourself committed to your relationship with God? Give concrete ideas.

FINAL OUTPUT (can be your Performance Task)

Make a creative material promoting the three vocation/callings in a Christian life – single-
blessedness, married life, religious/consecrated life. (e.g. vlog, poster, leaflets,
promotional video)

REFERENCES

1. Panganiban, et al (2017). Road to Emmaus Series: Stay With Us, Lord! Liturgy and
Sacraments: The Phoenix Publishing House Inc.
2. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm?
fbclid=IwAR2Bdpir2E1VZXN6dEJJoRdiuSO7RkDzuuKVGUO7V8W399cAdxakpiV5
tYs
3. https://catherineferraro.weebly.com/different-types-of-vocations.html

Prepared by:
Checked by: Approved by:
Subject
Senior High School Coordinator Integrated School Principal
Teacher
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

ACTIVITY SHEET IN Theology 3: Liturgy and Sacraments

MODULE NO. 4

NAME: _______________________________________
GRADE&SECTION: _____________________________
DATE: _______________________________________

INITIAL ACTIVITY (I DO! – A Long and Lasting Love)

Answer the questions faithfully.

1. If you are to get married, describe your ideal husband or wife. How would you like him or her
to be?

2. How would you like your marriage to be? If you see yourself not getting married, how do you
see yourself in the years to come?

3. Imagine writing or composing vows for someone you love and will marry in the future. For
those who would not marry, address your vows to God. What would the content be like?
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

ACTIVITY SHEET IN Theology 3: Liturgy and Sacraments

MODULE NO. 11

NAME: _______________________________________
GRADE&SECTION: _____________________________
DATE: _______________________________________

Task 1
Give your explanation on the given phrases regarding the sacrament of Matrimony. The ideas
must be substantial and related to the topic.

1. Mutual acceptance

2. For the husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the Church
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas

3. No longer two, but one

ACTIVITY SHEET IN Theology 3: Liturgy and Sacraments

MODULE NO. 11

NAME: _______________________________________
GRADE&SECTION: _____________________________
DATE: _______________________________________

Task 2
Considering the calling/vocation you see yourself years from now, how would you make
yourself committed to your relationship with God? Give concrete ideas.
UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY ACADEMY
Taal, Batangas