them to Heaven; but to the wicked He will say, "Depart from Me, because
when I was hungry you gave Me not to eat; when I was thirsty you gave Me
not to drink; you clothed Me not," etc. And then the wicked shall ask,
when did we see You in want and not relieve You? He will tell them that
He considered the poor just the same as Himself; and as they did nothing
for His poor, they did nothing for Him.

*403 Q. What is the meaning of the commandment not to marry within the
third degree of kindred?
A. The meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree
of kindred is that no one is allowed to marry another within the third
degree of blood relationship.

"Third Degree." What relatives are in the third degree? Brother and
sister are in the first degree; first cousins are in the second degree;
second cousins are in the third degree. Therefore all who are second
cousins or in nearer relationship cannot be married without a
dispensation from the Church allowing them to do so. A dispensation
granted by the Church is a permission to do something which its law
forbids. Since it made the law, it can also dispense from the observance
of it. The Church could not give permission to do anything that God's
law forbids. It could not, for example, give permission to a brother and
sister to marry, because it is not alone the law of the Church but God's
law also that forbids that. But God's law does not forbid first or
second cousins to get married; but the Church's law forbids it, and thus
it can in special cases dispense from such laws. God's law is called
also the natural law. You must be very careful not to confound the
marriage laws that the Church makes with the marriage laws that the
State makes. When the State makes laws contrary to the laws of God or of
the Church, you cannot obey such laws without committing grievous sin.
For instance, the State allows divorce; it allows persons to marry again
if the husband or wife has been sentenced to imprisonment for life; it
does not recognize all the impediments to marriage laid down by the
Church. Such laws as these Catholics cannot comply with; but when the
State makes laws which regard only the civil effects of marriage, such
as refer to the property of the husband or wife, the inheritance of the
children, etc., laws, in a word, which are not opposed either to the
laws of God or of His Church, then you may and must obey them; for the
authorities of the government are our law