cormacburke.me.ke - English, Marriage - Pastoral

The Vocation of Marriage

webmaster — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:45:29 +0000

The Vocation of Marriage Faith, vol, 43, no. 4 (2011), pp. 6-9
Marriage is a vocation; it is the vocation to which the vast majority of people are called. It has two clear purposes or, as the Catechism says, a "twofold end...: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life" (n. 2363). It is a call both to faithful love and to fruitful love.
1. The first purpose is that spouses grow together in goodness, and in that openness to goodness which prepares them for heaven. This means specifically that they are meant to grow in loving God (the first commandment) by means of growing in love for each other throughout their lifetime.

The De-humanization of marital sex

webmaster — Thu, 05 May 2011 12:58:07 +0000

The De-humanization of marital sex (Faith (2011), pp. 11-15)

1. Humanae Vitae initiated a new analysis of the conjugal act

Humanae vitae, Paul VI's 1968 Encyclical is principally recalled as reiterating the Church's perennial condemnation of artificial birth-control. But it is much more than that. It opened up the way for a deeper human understanding of what, in sexual intercourse between husband and wife, justifies its being termed the conjugal act.

Marriage, Annulment, and the Quest for Lasting Commitment (Catholic World Report, Jan. 1996, pp. 54-61)

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:07:33 +0000

I have been asked to reply to an article written under the pseudonym of Polonaise in the June issue of the Catholic World Report. Anonymous writings do not appeal to me, since I feel that each one should have the courage of his or her convictions. So, while Polonaise involves me in his animadversions, I would probably have let that pass, also because it is never pleasant or easy to answer a critic who has not understood the position he criticizes. But since he also misrepresents the teaching of the magisterium (partly by ignoring it), I think your readers are entitled to some comments which hopefully can clarify some important points.

Marriage in Tough Times (The Melbourne Record. May 12, 2007)

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:13:44 +0000

A former judge of the Roman Rota has called for Catholics to play a bigger role in counter-acting divorce among friends and family members.

Monsignor Cormac Burke visited Australia this week to give lectures in Melbourne and Sydney. The theme of his Melbourne talk, delivered at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family, was the importance of commitment in marriage. In an interview with The Record, Mons Burke warned of some of the dangers confronting marriages in the modern world.

"Atomic" explosions in marriage
Among these is a common lack of understanding that every marriage will inevitably go through tough times, including anger against one's married spouse. "All of the successful marriages I've seen have gone through plenty of troubles," he said.

Marriage: Commitment or Experiment? (Linacre Quarterly, vol. 63 (1996), pp. 44-52)

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:13:19 +0000

Skepticism about binding commitments?

MARRIAGE: THE GOOD WINE (a wedding homily)

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:12:45 +0000

(Nazareth Journal, 1995/2, pp. 18-20)

"You have kept the good wine until now".

In these words the steward expressed his amazement to the bridegroom at Cana. And his amazement was redoubled when he found the bridegroom just as surprised as he was. The words should, of course, have been addressed to Jesus, who had just let himself be persuaded by Our Lady to work the first of his miracles.

The Goodness of the Bonum Prolis [given at the Princeton University Symposium on Humanae Vitae: August 7-12, 1988;

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:12:19 +0000

The Goodness of the Bonum Prolis [given at the Princeton University Symposium on Humanae Vitae: August 7-12, 1988; published in International Review, 12 (1988) XII, 181-192].

I. Family planning and married fulfillment

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:11:46 +0000

(International Review, 13 (1989), 189-196)
Thirty years ago large families were a frequent and typically Catholic phenomenon. Today, in the developed world, they tend to be a rarity, also among Catholics. The swing to the small sized family began in the 60s, and has intensified ever since. Three main explanations would seem to stand out: the demographic scare, or the "population bomb"; the "I-generation", with its emphasis on self-fulfillment, especially through work; the consumer mentality as shown in a preference for material values.

Sex and Gender: a spectrum of views

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:09:51 +0000

The Conjugal Act and Procreativity: CORMAC BURKE

(Reprinted by permission of the author)

Sticking to the Commitment of Love (Scottish Catholic Observer, May 1994)

webmaster — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:08:08 +0000

Young people need to realize that when they marry, they are going to marry someone with defects; and therefore, when they fall in love, if they think that the other person has no defects, they are wrong. Just as they would be wrong if, after marrying and beginning to discover the other person's defects, they let themselves think that love is at an end. On the contrary, it is then that love has come to a turning point towards - or away from - maturity.