anctity, unity, and
indissolubility of the marriage tie, but are also subversive of society.
They sever the marriage tie inasmuch as the law of man can do it. If the
marriage tie is loosened, the family is dissolved; and if the family is
dissolved, society, the state, falls to ruin. Divorce destroys conjugal
love, causes unhappiness, renders the proper education of children
impossible, and often leads to terrible crimes. Is it not reasonable as
well as scriptural to forbid it?

The Christian husband and wife, knowing the sanctity, the unity, and the
indissolubility of the marriage tie, live in love and peace and honor
together; together they rear the issue of their union, teaching them to
be good children, good citizens, and good Christians; together, after a
long, a prosperous, and a happy union, they return to dust; and together
they will meet again beyond the confines of the tomb--_yes, they will
meet to part no more_.

XVI. Respect Shown to Ecclesiastical Superiors

"We are ambassadors for Christ; God, as it were, exhorting by us" (_2
Cor_. v. 20).

"As the Father sent me, I also send you" (_John_ xx. 21).

"Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature"
(_Mark_ xvi. 15).

THE respect Catholics have for the bishops and priests of the Church is
often a matter of surprise to those not of the Faith. They do not
understand, as Catholics do, that the priests are "ambassadors for
Christ" sent to "preach the Gospel to every creature." For Christ
instituted the priesthood to carry on divine worship, to govern the
Church, to preach His doctrine, and to administer the sacraments.

As in the Old Law God chose His priests from among the family of Aaron,
so in the New Law He chooses them from among those whom His apostles and
their successors see fit to ordain. Priests and other ministers of the
Church receive in the sacrament of Holy Orders the power and grace to
perform their sacred duties. If we would but consider seriously for a
moment the importance of these duties and the great dignity of the
minister of God, we would have no difficulty in understanding the
reasonableness of the Catholic practice of showing profound respect to
God's priesthood.

The priest is the minister of Jesus Christ, who chose him that he might
obtain for himself the greatest good and in return bestow this good upon
his fellow-man. Jesus Christ chose him that he might aid Him in the work
for which He came on earth. W