MASS INTENTIONS

Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state could not legally prevent marriage between members of the same sex. In response to this, the Roman Catholic Church, among others, support an amendment to the constitution which would define marriage as being between one man and one woman.

The scriptures, Hebrew, Christian and Moslem, are clear in their teaching that marriage is based on the relationship of a man and a woman, and this is and was the will of God from the beginning.

The Bible, in the Book of Genesis, says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… Then God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;"…And God saw everything that he had made was very good. (1:1, 26-28 & 31) God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (2:7) God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." (2:18) While the man slept, God took one of his ribs and made it into a woman and brought her to the man. The man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. (2:21-24).

From the Genesis account we can see that God created man and woman very much alike, similar, yet different. Though basically the same creature, they neither looked exactly alike, nor acted exactly in the same manner, yet, they were attracted to each other by the mystique of the created differences. They were created complementary to one another. They responded to each other because they were alike, and they needed each other because they were different. Neither was complete without the other. God created them so that they would come together and become one flesh. God’s plan of marriage is underlined in verse 24: Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Up until a few years ago, the common consensus of human societies for thousands of years has been that marriage and family are predicated on the union of a man and woman because of the complementary nature of their biological and psychological makeup, in addition to the potential for the transmission of human life without resorting to a third party.

Recently, however, it seems that the matter of same sex marriage has become a civil rights issue as far as the courts are concerned. It would appear that the assumption is that as long as you have a sexual relationship with someone, of either gender, you are entitled to all the benefits of marriage.

Marriage is not something that can be made to look like whatever we want. To play around with the definition of marriage is to risk grievous consequences to families and society. Marriage, as an opposite-sex union is most commonly aimed both at the mutual support and at the procreation and rearing of children, and is the principal social basis upon which our society seeks to ensure its vitality, stability, and perpetuation.

For many millennia human societies worldwide protected heterosexual families because sex, in God’s natural order of things, was recognized as being for spousal unity and procreation. While these may not always have been honored in observance, no one doubted that these were the purpose of sex. This belief went beyond purely personal concerns and had social implications, as well. Society had an obvious interest in the birth of children and the stability of the families that raised them. The well-being and perpetuation of the community depended on this institution.

With the onslaught of the sexual revolution, however, this began to change. Instead of serving moral and social purposes, the overriding purpose of sex changed to that of "simple pleasure." It came to be the viewpoint of society that it was difficult, if not impossible, to judge the morality of any sexual act between consenting adults. This in turn, fit in perfectly with our American culture’s obsession with personal freedom and autonomy. People want to be free to live their lives without any scrutiny, accountability, or responsibility, especially in sexual matters. Thus, in the context of our society today, merely the suggestion that something is wrong is seen as a form of "coercion" and, thus, unacceptable and prohibited. Consequently, our society has begun to treat sex as recreation, and people are now demanding it like a civil right.

The document "Always My Children" issued by the Committee on Marriage and Family of the U.S. Catholic Bishops stated: "To live and love chastely is to understand that ‘only in marriage does sexual intercourse fully symbolize the Creator’s dual design, as an act of covenant love, with potential of co-creating new human life’….Two conclusions follow. First, it is God’s plan that sexual intercourse occur only within marriage between a man and a woman. Second, every act of intercourse must be open to the possible creation of human life. Homosexual intercourse cannot fulfill these two conditions. Therefore, the Church teaches that homogenital behavior is objectively immoral, while making the important distinction between this behavior and a homosexual orientation."

A "Statement on Same-Sex Marriage" by the U.S. Bishops provides that: "We [the Bishops] wish to make it clear that the institution of marriage, as the union of one man and one woman, must be preserved, protected, and promoted in both private and public realms….Thus we oppose attempts to grant the legal status of marriage to a relationship between persons of the same sex. No same-sex union can realize the unique and full potential which the marital relationship expresses. For this reason, our opposition to "same-sex marriage" is not an instance of unjust discrimination or animosity toward homosexual persons."