Flags, Rainbows, and Natural Marriage

That whole Southern Cross flag thing just became really insignificant...

I posted that on my wall just this morning, after hearing about the most atrocious Supreme Court ruling since Roe vs. Wade. All week, people have been up in arms about the left's revisionist history concerning the Southern Cross battle flag and its supposed racial sentiments. As a proud transplant to the Southern portion of the United States (from Germany), I shake my head at how the powers that be feel inclined to trample our rights, our history, and our very lives.

Yet now there are more important things about which to worry. The Supreme Court of the United States of America has just immorally ruled that natural marriage is not protected. Every Tom, Dick or Harry can now fashion their own parameters.

What they haven't and can't do is to supplant Natural Law. Even if one denies the Word of God, marriage is (and will always remain to be) the union between one man and one woman - with the natural effect of bringing more souls into the world. 

Instead of relying on my own words, however, I'll share some wisdom from those who speak it better than I ever could. 

I'll also share some memes that I've created. Please consider following the links and sharing them as well. I'd also like to invite all of my married friends to use a wedding photo as their profile pic on Facebook and/or other social media. 

The 2% (or less) of the population practicing sodomy (let's call it what it is) needs to see that the majority is sticking with God and His Natural Law concerning the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony!

Wisdom from the past via the Venerable Fulton Sheen 1953

Moral Principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.

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Canon lawyer, Edward Peters: Two thoughts re the Supreme Court decision on ‘same-sex marriage'

3. Catholics who promote “same-sex marriage” act contrary to Canon 209 § 1 and should not approach for holy Communion per Canon 916. Depending on the facts of the case, they also risk having holy Communion withheld from them under Canon 915, being rebuked under Canon 1339 § 2, and/or being sanctioned under Canon 1369 for gravely injuring good morals.

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USCCB Statement on Marriage Ruling

Comparing it to the Roe vs. Wade decision:

“Neither decision is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the Court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.”  ~Archbishop Kurtz

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I'm sharing with you my statement regarding today's Supreme Court Ruling on Same Sex Marriage:

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on marriage is not a surprise. The surprise will come as ordinary people begin to experience, firsthand and painfully, the impact of today's action on everything they thought they knew about marriage, family life, our laws and our social institutions. The mistakes of the court change nothing about the nature of men and women, and the truth of God's Word. The task now for believers is to form our own families even more deeply in the love of God, and to rebuild a healthy marriage culture, one marriage at a time, from the debris of today's decision.+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Archbishop of Philadelphia

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Justice Antonin Scalia Dissent

Today's decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. The opinion in these cases is the furthest extension in fact — and the furthest extension one can even imagine — of the Court's claimed power to create "liberties" that the Constitution and its Amendments neglect to mention. This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves.  

"A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy."

"[T]o allow the policy question of same-sex marriage to be considered and resolved by a select, patrician, highly unrepresentative panel of nine is to violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation."

"The stuff contained in today’s opinion has to diminish this Court's reputation for clear thinking and sober analysis."

"With each decision of ours that takes from the People a question properly left to them — with each decision that is unabashedly based not on law, but on the 'reasoned judgment' of a bare majority of this Court — we move one step closer to being reminded of our impotence."

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"Today’s decision casts that truth aside. In its haste to reach a desired result, the majority misapplies a clause focused on 'due process' to afford substantive rights, disregards the most plausible understanding of the 'liberty' protected by that clause, and distorts the principles on which this Nation was founded. Its decision will have inestimable consequences for our Constitution and our society,"  Justice Clarence Thomas 

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Majority opinion of Justice Anthony Kennedy, let's pray this is honored!

“Finally, it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned. The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered. The same is true of those who oppose same-sex marriage for other reasons. In turn, those who believe allowing same-sex marriage is proper or indeed essential, whether as a matter of religious conviction or secular belief, may engage those who disagree with their view in an open and searching debate.”

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“Sad moment in the history of our nation. But we move on. No same sex marriages will be celebrated within the Catholic Church. Our faith teaches that marriage is a sacramental union between a man and a woman. That is our faith and our truth!!! We shall not attack the principle of same sex marriage but uphold our faith and our truths! It does not matter to the Church as marriage is a sacrament that can’t be defined by any court!” ~Bishop Richard F. Stika

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The Catholic Gentleman

The United States just legalized gay "marriage." Fear is in the air. I will simply share these thoughts:

The final war between Satan and the Lord God is over the family. Why? Because the family is icon of the Most Holy Trinity. The communion of love between the three Divine Persons is the original family. This Divine communion is fruitful, that is, it brings forth life. It cannot help but do so. Life bursts forth from the love of the Holy Trinity.
The family is the earthly image and icon of Trinitarian love. The communion of love between husband and wife is designed to be fruitful, to bring forth life. In a very real sense, married love creates. This is why marriage carries the dignity of a sacrament---because it is a holy image of the Trinity.

Only God can truly create. Satan cannot. And Satan hates this fact. He is sterile in every sense of the word. He hates the Trinity because he envies its life giving and creative power, and he hates the family because it mirrors the Trinity.
And what better way to mock and warp the life-giving love of the Holy Trinity than to attempt to redefine marriage as something that cannot bring forth life? To redefine it as something inverted and sterile, like Satan himself? This is what homosexual "marriage" really is: Satan's mockery of the family, and thus of the Trinity.

The good news is, Our Lord, through the Immaculate Virgin, will crush Satan's head. Just when his victory seems sure, he will meet with a sudden defeat. Count on it.
Finally, stay strong. Be at peace. Be courageous. Never, ever lose heart.

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Now let's get this out there and take action. 

Please ask your US Congressmen to support this bill:

H. R. 2802

To prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the basis of views held with respect to marriage.

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I promised to share pro- natural marriage memes, so here they are. Please follow the links to get them.

Link to the above here.

Link to the above here.

Link to the above here.

Link to the above here.

Please check back for additional links and memes.

7 Ways We Might Be Politically Correct Like Pilate

Palm Sunday 2015

As Holy Week begins, we might ask ourselves a question: Are We Politically Correct Like Pilate? Saint Mark's Gospel tells us that he was certainly a biblical version of the ‘go along to get along’ crowd. When he asked the throng what to do with Jesus, he clearly demonstrated that he knew Jesus was blameless. We got further confirmation of culpability when Pilate cited the jealousy of the Chief Priests for the arrest of Jesus. In washing his hands of the entire affair, he showed his lack of conviction and profound failure to take a stand.

In this final period of heightened anticipation, will examining our consciences find us similarly weak-spined? By scrutinizing our actions in relation to prominent issues of the day, we might find an answer that does little to vindicate us. Here, then, is an opportunity to search our hearts and find His Truth.

1. Are We Politically Correct About Abortion?

Mouthing the prolife mantra among like-minded friends isn’t enough to make us genuinely prolife. What exactly are we willing to do for the innocent, voiceless victims of the Culture of Death? Can we be found praying for the unborn - either at Mass, in private prayer, or at abortion mills? Do we seek out conversations, even to the point of discomfort, in order to share the message of God’s unconditional love? How about the ‘exception’ children? Rape and incest are taboo subjects to many, yet the children whose conception traces back to a violent, unlawful attack on their mothers are certainly beloved children of God. 

2. Same Sex ‘Marriage’, a Leading Politically Correct Issue

It’s all over the news. If you don’t rise to defend the sinful actions of those who suffer from same sex attraction (SSA), you are somehow deemed judgmental and uncharitable. The justly charitable position fails to be mentioned – loving all people enough to witness to the Gospel. Standing silently by while the mainstream of society pretends that acting on SSA tendencies is moral and even something to be proudly proclaimed, is to witness to the twisted logic of the devil. That all people deserve to live with God-given dignity is a given. Yet to praise those who persist in sinful living is to scandalize others and to lull those searching for the truth into morally fatal complacency.

3. Leaving Religion at the Church Door

Whether it’s the leading moral issues of the day or subtle rebellious acts, leaving our faith at the church door after Sunday Mass is seen by some as an accepted politically correct way of life. Listening to scripture, partaking of the True Presence, and mouthing the words of prayer – all these are of no benefit if they aren’t the vehicle that sends us out into the week, nourished and armed with conviction. In order to reach for the goal of sainthood, desired for all of us by God, the Holy Sacrifice of Mass is the springboard toward living life by sharing His Word.

4. Ignoring the Promotion of Intrinsic Evils

Do we facilitate organizations, celebrities, or events that glorify evil? Once we know of these unholy alliances, we share a moral responsibility to live accordingly. The Girl Scouts and their collaboration with Planned Parenthood or the acceptance of embryonic stem cell research and abortion by the March of Dimes, begs for action from the faithful. Do we share this information with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to contact the offending groups and charitably express our moral outrage? What’s more important in our lives – the cookies and the praise for donations, or the unvarnished truth?

5. Speaking Up For Those Falsely Accused

Have you ever been present when someone was maligned? It’s so easy to either slip into an uncomfortable silence or to share in the gossip. But is that what we are shown by the examples of Jesus and His saints? We’ve not been charged with having an easy life; we’ve been charged with walking the narrow path. With this comes the responsibility to refrain from gossip, idle talk, calumny, and other sins of the tongue. Who stood up for Jesus when He was being falsely accused? The politically correct crowd didn’t. They remained silent or worse, shouted “crucify him, crucify him”. Although they knew of no wrong with which to accuse Him, they gave in to the mob mentality. Surely this isn’t something to be emulated.

6. Ignoring the Poor and Struggling

They’re out there, waiting to be acknowledged, looking for a kind word or smile. How many times do we simply turn away, cast down our eyes, and forget them as soon as we walk away? Remembering the poor or struggling doesn’t involve just the obvious Lenten alms giving. It can entail going out of our way to smile at a weary stranger or the mother whose life is overflowing with beloved yet boisterous children. They may look frazzled but we can make a difference by a smile, a kind word, or an offer of help with some small task. There are those who are poor for lack of love in nursing homes or those who are poor in catechesis and struggling to find Truth. We have untold opportunities to make a difference in the lives of everyone we encounter.

7. Failing to Speak Out Against Evil In Media

It isn’t necessary to name them. We all know of movies, television shows, and music that are so offensive to moral sensibilities that the heavens cry out for their denouncement. How do we react? Are we content to stand by and revel in the fact that we, ourselves, don’t participate? Or do we take a stand? We certainly have the opportunities. Yes, posting a truthful warning on your Facebook wall or speaking out at a gathering may garner some uncharitable comments toward you, but is that really enough reason to abstain from doing what is right? We will often find that, when one person has the courage to take a stand, others will join in – relieved that someone took the initiative.

So how do we score when we ask ourselves these seven questions? Is there a bit too much complacency or is there something more we could do? These are things we would do well to ponder as we enter into Holy Week. As our priest told us during his homily today, we can’t bypass the Cross on our way to the Resurrection. To be fully immersed in the season we must partake of the sacrificial giving before we claim the Easter Joy!

“We can't let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration. It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls.” Saint Joemaria Escriva

"I Love You Anyway" - When a Gay Friend Expects Approval

I have a friend. She struggles with same sex attraction (SSA). Today, she wrote another excellent post; this time addressing those who 'come out' and expect across the board approval. Take a look and you'll realize that it's acceptable, even demanded, to love our homosexual brethren - but not their actions toward these tendencies. Drawing the line at an active homosexual lifestyle is the proper Catholic Christian response. "I love you anyway"

"No, today Christians are expected to actively celebrate homosexuality or we’re branded a “hater” or “bigot.”" ~author

This excellent and Catholic approach to an SSA friend can be found here: An Open Letter to My Gay Sister