A primary vocation of the laity is to order families according to the plan of God. "The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution.... Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation. 'And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'" (CCC 1603, 1604) How critical is this vocation of sacramental marriage and family life, and how under attack it is in today's culture! Throughout the world, this fundamental unit is under attack, this microcosm of the Church, this safe place where children can be raised and husband and wife live in fruitful and selfless love. To the world and to the Church, the sacramental marriage offers a strong haven of security and hope; it is the first presentation of God's love.

"Christ our Lord has abundantly blessed [married] love, which is rich in its various features, coming as it does from the spring of divine love and modeled on Christ's own union with the Church. Just as of old God encountered his people with a covenant of love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse of the Church, now encounters Christian spouses through the sacrament of marriage. He abides with them in order that by their mutual self-giving spouses will love each other with enduring fidelity, as he loved the Church and delivered himself for it." (GS 48 ¶ 2)