As you are well aware the Supreme Court last week issued
a ruling that all 50 states must allow people of the same gender to marry one
another, under the marriage equality act.
I cannot get into how or why the Supreme Court decided such; I am not a Constitutional
lawyer. As Americans we obviously hold
to the Constitution and consider ourselves good and faithful servants of this
great nation. However, our fist
allegiance is always to God, everything and everyone else comes second. I am reminded of the beautiful words of Saint
Thomas More prior to his execution, “I am the king’s good servant, but God’s
first.”
With those words of Saint Thomas More, words by which we
should all live, we as Catholics, as Christians oppose the ruling of the
Supreme Court on two grounds, marriage as understood within our theology and
also in our basic and fundamental understating of Natural law.
Many people have accepted the Supreme Court’s decision,
even Catholics of good reputation. They
have done so by separating the idea of civil marriage from that of sacramental
marriage and by forming a slogan, “love is love.” Dealing with the slogan or rally cry first,
yes it is true, no one can judge the love between two people regardless of sex,
that is why and in the context of Pope Francis words when asked about
homosexuals he responded, “Who am I to judge.”
I agree with Pope Francis we are not to judge, but rather hold to the
dignity and sacredness of every human person regardless of sexual
orientation. With that being said we do
as a Church have to address when civil laws are contrary to the Natural or
Divine law.
Let’s have a look at what we as Catholics consider a
sacramental marriage. From the
Catechism: 1601 "The matrimonial covenant, by
which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership
of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the
good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring;
this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to
the dignity of a sacrament."
Marriage finds its origin in the book of Genesis and it
was instituted by God for two purposes, for happiness and the possibility of
procreation. We understand the
meaning and the purpose of marriage from the biblical and catechetical
perspective. What about civil marriage,
since that is not performed as a sacrament why do we still oppose same sex
couples marrying one another civilly?
We oppose it because the institution of marriage comes
from nature and ultimately from God. Our
understanding of marriage has always been between one man and one woman and has
been so long before the Constitution was written. The natural law is that law by which we can
determine the order of things, understanding things in their nature and
purpose, and knowing the difference between good and evil, i.e. right and
wrong.
If someone tries to redefine something contrary to
natural law we should be able to see that it is so, contrary to what it should
be. Let’s look at an easy example. We all know that murder is wrong, for it is a
grave injustice done to another human being.
Is murder wrong because we have decided so or is it wrong in its very
nature regardless of how I may understand it?
You see, a madman may believe murdering brings him happiness and he may
argue, “Who are you to determine what is good or bad for me?” We are not determining what is good or bad
for you, you should know that almost instinctively since that is what the
natural law prompts in each of us.
With our understanding of marriage being ordained by
Divine precept and something that flows from the natural law or nature itself,
both created by God, then we must oppose anything called marriage
that does not meet the criteria of happiness and the possibility of
procreation, since marriage is life giving and same sex couples cannot meet
the second criteria.
Folks must also be very careful not to throw around such
slogans as “love is love or live and let live.”
If you take love is love to its logical end you will see it is highly
problematic. For instance what happens
when one man or one woman wants to marry multiple partners or if siblings
related by blood wish to marry, does love is love still qualify? Live and let live is contrary to the Gospel
as we are not our own but have been purchased at a price, a ransom has been
paid for us, therefore we are the Lord’s and responsible to him. We are also not to remain silent when people
are in error or if they are in sin.
Again, I am not judging the love that people have for one
another and I am not an expert in the sociological and biological understanding
of homosexuality. Again like Saint
Thomas More, “I think none harm, I wish none harm, I do none harm.” But in good conscience I cannot accept same
sex marriages. My understanding of the
institution of marriage is shaped by our Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and
what I can understand through the observation of nature.
I am sure more discussion will follow as the above issue continues
to be discussed. We must be able to
speak frankly with one another and not be afraid of political correctness, and
yet we must remain respectful of each other.
Homilies will eventually follow that address sacramental marriage. I did have a presentation on marriage here at
the parish some months ago but that was mostly based on covenants and the
discussion moved more towards annulments but maybe I need to have an open forum
discussion on the understanding marriage as an institution in light of the
Supreme Court’s recent decision. Please
pray for me, Fr. Sanjai, Deacon Jerry and Deacon Joe as we continue to teach
the sacred Truths of our faith and that we do so always in keeping with the
sacredness and dignity of each human person.
God bless you all, Fr. John
