I said the last entry was the last entry before Christmas.Ok,I’m going back on my word.An exception.One final entry.
I watch the Five at 5:00 every day. They’re all terrific.I usually agree with Mr Gutfeld and get a kick out of his commentary. Humor works. I am discouraged that he,like other Americans that are younger, are more apt to accept same sex marriage. Unfortunately I think some Catholics don’t understand why the Church teaches that people of the same gender can’t BE married. Either they don’t understand or don’t care.BTW.Even when you don’t understand Church teaching as Catholics ,we accept then TRY to understand.
In fact I would encourage Catholics to look more deeply into their faith.There is a treasure of writings out there to delve into that would keep a lot of us busy for a very long time.If you do the homework and still don’t understand,then accept and PRAY.
What i want to do here is explain the Church’s teaching and why it matters.
A ‘no you cannot’ on certain behaviors is not meant to say the Church is nasty and just doesn’t want people to have any fun.Actually the Church is not the Church of no.it’s the Church of YES. We’ll get to that. In fact I’m not even going to START with Church teaching and scripture.
Let’s start with an open conversation about the beginning of man. Let’s suppose the human race had started with 2 males. We could go with either gender.Let’s suppose the human race had started with 2 females.
Where would we be?
Now we will look at scripture. What did Jesus say about marriage?
Matthew 19
* When Jesus* finished these words,* he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.2Great crowds followed him, and he cured them there.3a Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him,* saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”4* b He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’5c and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”7* d They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss [her]?”8He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.9e I say to you,* whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”10[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”11He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word,* but only those to whom that is granted.12Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage* for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”1
Jesus is speaking about the book of Genesis,about the beginning,about marriage.
The intimate relationship between male and female in marriage was a gift from God. Male and female were made in the image and likeness of God and created for each other,expressed in the verse,God saw that it was not good for man to be alone.The woman is given to man and he is exuberant,
“the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”
246 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.25The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
You see,God created male and female for the sexual union in marriage.It’s not a sin.It’s a gift.
Guilt and shame and knowing they are naked doesn’t enter the picture until after the fall,when they lose their innocence.They become suspicious of each other,questioning the motives of the other. Once they break the relationship they had with God by failing to trust him then they also fail to trust each other. The union before the fall is the gift of self. Jesus is saying in Matthew that is the way it should be and can be.
Marriage has long been defined as between one man/one woman. In 2012-2013 under much pressure from same sex advocates it was decided that the DEFINITION of marriage ought to be changed. Once you change the definition or marriage it has no meaning at all.
It’s not that same sex ‘marriage’ is going to affect my marriage personally.Of course it’s not.I’ve said it before-that’s a red herring. Divorce doesn’t affect my marriage personally.It is how it affects marriage as a whole in society.The consequences are enormous. #LoveisLove is trite.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
2361 “Sexuality, by means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such. It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an integral part of the love by which a man and woman commit themselves totally to one another until death” (Familiaris Consortio 11).
Further:
2363 “The spouses’ union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering the couple’s spiritual life and compromising the goods of marriage and the future of the family. The conjugal love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity.”
As faithful Catholics we say YES to the commitment of marriage,life,respect for the dignity of the human person and self- giving.We’re not meant to use each other and take the sexual union down to the level of what’s in it for me.We’re not meant to make our marriage partner an object;we’re not meant to make anyone an object and rob them of their dignity.Same sex unions are part of the culture of death.
I will be blunt;if a judge rules that 2 men or 2 women can mimic marriage-which is all it is-i do not have to recognize it as marriage. If two of these people would consider a rental from me.I would say NO just as i would say NO to a unmarried female/male couple who wanted to live together. If the same sex people came to me and requested a wedding cake.Again,I would say no because the state can recognize them as married but i don’t have to. You can’t call it discrimination because it has NOTHING to base itself on.I can claim in response that I am being discriminated against by being forced to abandon my religions beliefs and violate my own conscience. It’s not the same as race discrimination. People of the same gender can choose not to engage in sodomy and mutual masturbation.They can control their own sexual behavior. A person’s race is based on biology. I would also say that people of the same gender should not be permitted to adopt children. Children should not be exposed to it because there are many factors that go into the formation of a child that have to do with gender identity. Gender identity and other social roles are dependent on having a mother and father;or in some circumstances having a mother or father.
You cannot even define if the partner IS a mother or father.If two people of the same gender choose to engage in the behavior that is up to them.If a person with same sex disorder is Catholic, the Church offers support for celibacy and non sexual friendships. If they’re not Catholic,like any behavior,they are free to choose to engage in the behavior.I would encourage them to stop but the choice is theirs.What I do not have to accept is a REDEFINITION of marriage which is no marriage at all.You redefine it,then it has no meaning. We have the right NOT to recognize what we don’t consider marriage in the first place. No court of law can impose it.
QUESTION;Do we now change the definition of consummation? Since 2 people of the same gender cannot consummate the supposed marriage do we now have to redefine what this means?
You must be logged in to post a comment.