love and, with it, the spirit of poverty, chastity and obedience that marriage can be raised within the Christian Church to the dignity of a sacrament. It can be so only by sharing in the spirit of Christ on the Cross.37

The Swiss priest draws a compelling conclusion:

Hence Christian marriage cannot be understood if it is regarded primarily as a natural institution with a particular form of natural love that was later "raised" by the sacrament in the state of grace. It must be interpreted a priori from above, in terms of the Christian act that established it as marriage-the act of living Christian faith that always includes love and hope and in which marriage vows are exchanged.38

Perhaps this last quotation will cause the reader some consternation. Does not the Church's definition of the sacrament of marriage as recorded in canon law and confirmed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church depict marriage as a "covenant between baptized persons [which] has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament"?39 While true, it is important to recognize the difference between this statement and Balthasar's depiction above. Balthasar is intimating that Christian marriage, which is made possible only by the irrevocable consent of baptized persons, is not reducible to the natural institution of marriage; nor should it be considered this way. Because baptism raises persons to divine Sonship by grace and faith, those contracting marriage within the basic Christian state already live "from above," upon the mountain of the Lord as it were. While the sacrament of marriage "has been raised" and, as such, is an elevated state, this does not mean that Christians

37 Balthasar, Christian State of Life, 244. Original emphasis.38 Ibid., 229. The origin and purpose of Christian marriage is supernatural, he writes.39 Emphasis added. "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." Code of Canon Law (1983), can. 1055; CCC §1601; see also Leo XIII, Encyclical on Christian Marriage Arcanum (February 10, 1880) $9 and Gaudium et Spes $48.

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The Vocation to Marriage and Related Observations on Christian Discernment

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