The Big “I Do”, your Deacon’s View on the Matter

07-26-2015Weekly ReflectionDeacon Edward Wendt

We are living in very interesting times. The pendulum of culture is once again swinging away from Christian principles, and that means we no longer have the luxury of being the prevailing or dominant voice. We can no longer boast about being Christian, we have to prove it. This Supreme Court decision is a wakeup call to the reality of the world around us that has been brewing for quite some time. It is also a remarkable opportunity unlike any we've seen in a long time. People with same-sex attraction have full legal rights to marry each other, and with growing public acceptance of this, they have won this round. They have gotten what they wanted. Their worldview is no longer the "persecuted minority" view, so they can't really play that card anymore. We as Christians though, as we become more and more marginalized, return to being like the original Church, scorned and feared and misunderstood... just as Christ Himself was. What a remarkable time to live in.

God is going to bequeath the Church people of profound devotion in the coming decades as the rest of the world slips farther and farther along. We may see a birth of new religious orders. This is a new cultural landscape ripe for "revival." We've grown stuffy and cold over the years as we've slowly become complacent as "good Church-going Catholics". People will no longer assume we are virtuous because we're Christian... we have to be virtuous first and foremost.

The early Church did suffer. In fact, as they grew in numbers, it became illegal for them to even call themselves "Christian" and they could be killed by attending Mass. Not to mention that every time there was a plague or a fire or some kind of disruption in the social order, they were among those targeted as being the culprits. How often today do we hear that Christians are enemies of peace, love, and the social order because we teach a doctrine of peace and love that is at odds with the prevailing cultural view of peace, love, and social order? The "marriage equality" movement, in light of the Supreme Court decision has promoted this message in recent days saying "Love Won." As if those who are against gay marriage are not in favor of "love." This is where it's heading for us.

I think what we need to stop referring to marriage as "traditional marriage." I think we should call it “Holy Matrimony”. We're not for "marriage" merely because it's "traditional." The term “marriage” in the wider culture that we live in has lost the meaning that the Church gives it, and using the word confuses people these days as to what you mean. If we say “Holy Matrimony”, we are recognizing marriage as Sacrament and that we are for carrying out our faith as people married in the eyes of God. It is the union of man and woman, two distinct and equal flesh, becoming one flesh. It is a Sacrament that has been instituted by Christ, Himself. We're not opposed to gay unions because we're these "rigid traditionalists who want to deny and obstruct anything new that we can't understand", we're opposed to it because we view marriage as being about something natural (true everywhere and at every time), rather than something purely cultural or "traditional." We may have to concede the word “marriage” in order to further distinguish what it is we practice.

I think it's time for a more clear separation between "civil" and "sacramental." I think the Churches ministers should no longer “officiate” at marriages on behalf of the state. It is clear that the "state" no longer marries people with the same intent that the Church does when the Church marries people. We don't view baptisms as valid when they aren't done for the same intention that the Church does them, and I think in this social climate we should stop the practice of Church-state overlap when it comes to marriages as well. This distinction will strengthen the Church's internal meaning of marriage without making it seem like it only becomes legitimate if the "state" officiates it. We need to recognize the “separation of Church and State”. The couple, either heterosexual or homosexual should have a civil ceremony by the state, for the sole purpose of a social contract of two people to share their resources and receive benefits from the government. Then by the laws of God and His Church the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony between a Man and a Woman, may be granted in a religious ceremony by the Churches ministers.

BACK TO LIST