Folia Theologica et Canonica 4. 26/18 (2015)
SACRA THEOLOGIA - Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem., A sacramental theology of the family: the unity and harmony of the sacramental order
134 SEBASTIAN WALSHE, O.PRAEM. could be understood. This sacramental significance of marriage is intimately and essentially bound together with the fundamental truths of revelation and with the entire sacramental order. For just as the natural order is unified and harmonious because it is reduced back to God as a first principle, so also the supernatural order is unified and harmonious because it is reduced back to the Father as a single principle. And because the supernatural order is harmonious and unified, so also is the sacramental order which signifies and communicates the supernatural order. It is therefore not possible to reject or reinterpret God’s original plan for the family without grave harm to the whole of revelation and to the sacramental economy. To reject the natural family is to reject the Catholic Faith. Conversely, a new love and appreciation for the family as originally willed by God will contribute greatly to the flourishing of faith and to the devout entry into supernatural realities through the sacraments.
