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Rhode Island Marriage Battle — 12 Comments

  1. Although I regret the fall of our country after such a short history as the beacon of liberty (which our Founding Fathers knew required the Christian religion & morals), I am heartened by your last sentence: The good news in all of this is, God has the last word!

  2. I completely agree with you Father. I mourn for the loss of the institution of marriage and for what this country has become. I am also frustrated at how many Catholics actually support this attack on marriage and religious freedoms. Even though I know that God will prevail, I still can’t help but fear what this society will look like in a few short years.

    • Dear Rob, confidence! As Fr. Jay says, God always has the last word. What helps me a lot to keep certain of God’s victory in the end is this lovely commentary on the Bible called ‘New Insights on the Gospels’ by a Canon of St. Mary Major’s Basilica. Download a few free parts at http://heralds.ca/newinsights/
      And to Fr. Jay, bravo! We need people like you

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  5. I remember also the friend of Archie Bunker who was gay. Archie wouldn’t believe him initially because he was a such he-man type…a big, red-blooded football player. The gay friend chuckles at Archie’s naive disbelief, finishes his beer and leaves him with the news still hanging in the air. (I think that guy predates all your good examples, Father.) You’ve put your finger on the time at which the “full court press” was put on, for sure, but the subject was definitely taking jump shots long before the 80’s. Norman Lear, with all of those shows in the 70’s (All In The Family, Jeffersons, Maude, etc) really got things rolling for the political progressives. In fact, almost all of the popular TVshows of the 1970s did their best to put cobwebs and dust on almost every institution imaginable. Remember Officer Kirk, who tried to bring his hard-right conservative hammer down on the Fonze and Richie Cunningham?
    Unfortunately for us all, the straight community has been losing touch with the venerable old institution of marriage for decades. TV and movies were not only getting us used to homosexuality, it was also getting us acquainted with and accepting of the larger sexual revolution, divorce and birth control (including the most vile form, abortion). How could marriage survive in a culture that tolerated and then even embraced all these things? In time, the straight community dragged the institution down to a level where anyone could lay a claim to it. One might argue that given the way we have treated marriage and family, who are we to try and deny anyone the right to “give it a whirl”? However, the legislature’s capitulation to the well-intended but none-the-less misguided “marriage equality” crowd spells the end of marriage in Rhode Island as we knew it. The wonder and awe of two people joining to become one flesh and co-create with the Creator should still be at the center of marriage, but sadly, like so many other wondrous things, the culture of consumption has taken it for granted for far too long. More novel ways, outside the norms and ideals of recreating a family have become chic. “Marriage Equality” won out because relativism is the new religion, and the Ocean State’s Catholics have fallen asleep. The wisdom of the age waged a PR war against the Wisdom of the Ages and has, in our sorry time, scored a victory. How can traditional marriage tell its full story in this 7-second-attention-span and soundbite riddled culture? Short little slogans and bumperstickers about Love and Fairness, like PT Boats amid destoyers and aircraft carriers in the Pacific, have an edge in these modern media waters. Bad as these times are for us, I feel just as sorry for our ancestors. It must pain them to be aware of what we have become, despite their best efforts to pass their wisdom along to us. What we must look like right now to someone with a perch in eternity…

  6. What a wonderful blog…..thank you Father….I agree with Ken’s comment and pray every day for our nation’s salvation and our Eternal Father’s anger at our turning a blind eye to sin. We have been conditioned through the media (i.e. movies, radio, news) that all this is perfectly acceptable, if we call ourselves Christian, in today’s society. They use words like “discrimination” against all those who have their eyes open to the sin around us.
    I too, have been called as such, due to my beliefs and how I chose to live my life through the church and Christ’ teachings. I have two children who are gay and I pray for their salvation every day. I have stopped wondering where I went wrong and instead put all my trust in my Lord for their salvation, as well as for this world.

  7. Remember “SOAP”? our parish campaigned against this program by turning off the TV for a day in protest of the story line which included Billy Crystal’s gay character. I cannot remember hearing anything like this leadership from the parish leadership since then. especially not at our Franciscan parish, now.

  8. Father… where to begin?..Your view is anything but Christian. I’ll start by saying some of the greatest church leaders (and saints) have (had) homosexual orientations. Your words are contrary to the gospels and our cathecisim…..

    • “greatest church leaders (and saints) have (had) homosexual orientations” Where is your proof or is this just wishing? And, I didn’t condemn same-sex attraction, just as I don’t condemn people who have the desire to steal, but don’t. It’s the action that is sinful, and the glorifying of a sinful lifestyle.

      “contrary to the gospels and our catechism” I’m not sure what version of the New Testament you have, but all the recognized versions condemn homosexual acts. Let’s start off with Romans 1:24-27 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Tim 1:10

      Finally, let’s look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

      2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

      2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

      2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

      By the way, I have the only Courage group in my diocese. Courage is a ministry to people with same-sex attraction, who choose of their own free will to live as Christ calls them to live – chaste!

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