Claim. Marriage grants the authority to participate in God’s love, re-creation, and dominion when spouses live for each other.
Elaboration. SMM says that in marriage people “inherit God’s love and receive the authority of re-creation and dominion” while standing in the realm of perfection (CSG 4.6 §3, 76-45, 1975.1.26). The love of children lets parents taste God’s joy in creating Adam and Eve, and dominion over all things is given horizontally. Yet the standard for entering this marriage is other-centered: “You should have a creed that you get married not for your own sake but for the sake of your partner” (Blessed Family 361). A spouse is not selected as an ornament to the self; spouse-love is the way one learns to love God and humankind.
See also. purpose-of-creation