All particular vocations (priesthood, religious, married, and single) are just different ways of living out the one Christian vocation, the Call to love. Married people are challenged to love one another in the spirit of Christ, thus living the great commandment especially well. Marriage is a call to love one particular imperfect human being as Christ loves him or her. Such love requires several Christian virtues. Among the most important are faithfulness, forgiveness, and a commitment to growth.

For a married Christian couple, they follow Christ by giving themselves to each other completely and without any reservation, promising to love each other faithfully for the rest of their lives, sharing their joys and sufferings in whatever circumstances life brings them. They express their love through their sexual union, which brings them together in the closest intimacy and opens them to the gift of new life.

Find out more about Catholic Marriage at: www.famlife.archdpdx.org