This November a Marriage Amendment will be up for voting. It is intended to protect the sanctity of Marriage between one man and one woman (which we believe is a sacrament uniting them with God.) It is a natural, life giving union that deserves our attention.
<Watch the video here! It's great!
Of course this stirs up so much commotion between gay liberalists and moral humans. When I received emails regarding this banter, I had to step in and say SOMETHING. I hope my opinion was correctly portrayed, in realization that this is a social issue "backed strongly by the faith community, and is not just a religious issue."
The big discussion is focused over the Archbishop's decision to include a prayer at every mass.
Dear Friends,
The current struggle to defend and define marriage within our civil constitution demands a three-fold approach. We must educate our fellow citizens on the meaning and good of marriage. We must actively and resolutely promote widespread participation among our fellow believers in the support of a marriage amendment. And most importantly, we must pray and offer sacrifice for the success of all endeavors that seek to protect and promote marriage.
To help assist in the strengthening of our state-wide efforts to defend marriage in our civil constitution, I am pleased to offer to your community of faith the enclosed prayer. Copies may be ordered through the Office of Worship, and are meant for use within the Holy Mass as part of the Prayer of the Faithful. In addition, I would encourage the posting of the prayer within Eucharistic Adoration chapels, along with an encouragement to adorers to pray for the success of the amendment and all efforts to strengthen marriage.
I would also like to call upon all Catholics of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to embrace Fridays as a particular day of prayer and sacrifice for the success of this most current struggle to defend marriage with our civil constitution. Without such deliberate prayers and sacrifices, our efforts will be in vain. But with God, all things are possible.
Much rides on the success of our struggle to defend marriage. May God bless our efforts, and our great state of Minnesota.
With every good wish and a remembrance in prayer, I am,
Cordially yours in Christ,
Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Heavenly Father,
Through the powerful intercession of the Holy Family, grant to this local Church the many graces we need to foster, strengthen, and support faith-filled, holy marriages and holy families.
May the vocation of married life, a true calling to share in your own divine and creative life, be recognized by all believers as a source of blessing and joy, and a revelation of your own divine goodness.
Grant to us all the gift of courage to proclaim and defend your plan for marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of loving trust, compassion, and generosity, open to the conception of children.
We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.
- Here is one post of this nature I added my own comment to, and suggest you do as well.
- Another post saying that the Archbishop is promoting Bigotry!
My comment included:
You judge him as a Bigot. A bigot is “a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.” OR ” a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, especially on religion, politics, or race.”
The Archbishop (as well as myself) may be disappointed in a person’s immoral choices and wish it to be ended, but not “utterly intolerant” of everyone that doesn’t share all his personal beliefs or that is different than him. That’s plain ridiculous to make such a blunt statement towards him and the millions who agree on this Marriage Amendment.
I recently had this to say about a blog discussing a talk presented by a priest and married couple at a school.
James 4:11
"Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you." NLT
What we as Catholic believe is that Marriage is a sacred Sacramental union between a man, a woman and God as in the very beginning (Genesis). And on this THE CHURCH and it's believers do not waiver. We are not homophobes or bigots, we are morally aware that homosexual behavior is against the law of God. Visit http://couragerc.net/ for more information on the efforts to help homosexuals live a life of chastity. This is showing a love and tolerance for the God-made person, but intolerant of their choice to act on their immoral desires - and lovingly giving them a way to "carry their cross" and find a different way of expressing their love and desire.
As far as adoption, having an adopted sister myself - we have NEVER felt as if the Catholic church belittled her or us. The issue is with Gay couples who adopt. And again, it's not the adoption that is a bad thing - we all want children to have loving families. It's the idea of what is a family that is conducive to a moral upbringing? A single person or gay couple CAN parent a child, but not in the same enriching way of a husband and wife. It simply isn't raising a child with the "best case scenario" of a mother and father to contribute various needs, and inspiring the beauty of procreation.
[READ HERE FOR BACKING ON THIS IDEA]
Of course this is my quick version of what I believe and understand to be the Catholic teaching. MY best guess is that the presenters at that school did not use the right words to share this belief. I certainly would like a copy of the talk and present it to other clergy who could decide if it was a proper representation or if it could be interpreted as offensive. But do understand, whenever someone's behavior is said to be improper, it is natural to become offended. The comment then needs to be evaluated and taken to heart whether or not it could be true.
I TOTALLY AGREE on these quotes below from:
Responding to Common Accusations and Fallacies
"Marriage is not a political institution but rather a social institution that exists prior to government and is not dependent on government. People will marry whether the government is involved or not."
"People can live as they choose. The marriage amendment will not change that. But no one person has the right to redefine marriage for everybody."
"Last I checked, Catholics were American citizens, too, and had a right to participate in public debates and offer their views for consideration. We are not imposing our beliefs on anyone. We are simply proposing what we think is the best marriage policy. People are free to disagree. "
"We are not saying that kids who don’t grow up in the ideal environment are doomed to failure; we are just saying it is a lot harder to achieve success on many measurable outcomes. The law should promote the ideal family structure for raising children, which is the principal reason that government is in the marriage business in the first place."
"Fundamentally, though, marriage (between a man and a woman) is a “common good” in itself with or without children. It channels biological sex drive into stable, productive relationships that benefit both parties. Naturally, men and women are different. Whether children result from their sexual union or not, the couple itself images a productive union and promotes a positive marriage culture. "
---and---
"In the future, it will truly be worth your while to show more respect to those who may disagree with you and to try to understand their point of view instead of writing them notes in which you condemn their character and question their intentions and concern for other people. Respect works both ways."
