14th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle B
July 5, 2015 9:30
and 11:00am
Saint
Margaret Parish, Bel Air
The Supreme Court’s Decision
One
week ago Friday, June 26th, all of us learned about the Supreme
Court’s decision on same-sex marriage.
I
watched about thirty minutes of the news coverage on this. And, as I watched, I quickly decided to stick
with the homily that I had worked on for last Sunday and not say a word about
the Court’s decision.
To me,
it seemed wiser to let the dust settle a bit and take time to reflect. So, I have tried to do that and today I want
to say a few things.
Archbishop Gregory
One of
the best responses to the Court’s decision that I have seen is from Archbishop
Wilton Gregory of Atlanta.
I
seldom do this in a homily, but today I want to read a few sentences from
Archbishop Gregory’s statement. He says
this:
“Each Supreme Court decision that has ever
been rendered has resulted in deep disappointment for some people and
vindication for others. The most recent
decision is no different.
“By the same token, every court decision is
limited in what it can achieve; again, this one is no exception. It does not change the Catholic Church’s
teaching regarding the Sacrament of Matrimony, which beautifully joins a man
and a woman in a loving union that is permanent in commitment and open to God’s
blessing of precious new life.
“This judgment, however, does not absolve
either those who may approve or disapprove of this decision from the
obligations of civility toward one another.
Neither is it a license for more venomous language or vile behavior
against those whose opinions differ from our own.
“It is a decision that confers a civil
entitlement to some people who could not claim it before. It does not resolve the moral debate.
“This moral debate must also include the way
we treat one another – especially those with whom we disagree. In many respects, the moral question is at
least as consequential as the granting of the civil entitlement.”
Where I Am
I think
Archbishop Gregory shows a lot of wisdom here.
He
expresses, better than I could, my perspective in dealing with this
matter. With that said, I want to add
two reflections of my own.
1. Faithful Presence
Based on some reading and study I have done, I believe
that we as a Church need to take the approach of faithful presence in our
society – faithful presence.
We live and we will be living in a very diverse,
pluralistic culture. In this situation,
we rightfully bring to the table our values and beliefs – on marriage, on the
protection of the life of the unborn, whatever.
But we must bring this with civility. This means that we know that there are and
will be other points of view.
And we treat them with spiritual and intellectual
respect. Faithful presence means that we
are confident that we have something to contribute to our society.
It means that we do this in ways that are respectful. If we resort to vitriolic words and
name-calling, to a condemning, in-your-face approach – and I have heard some of
this during the past week in the name of Christianity and Catholicism – if we
do that, we are not representing Jesus well.
We will then become little more than another political
action committee. So, faithful presence
– being faithful to what we believe about an issue and equally faithful to how
Jesus tells us to treat one another – those words capture the approach that I
am convinced is the correct one.
2. Embrace and
Include
My other thought comes from today’s second reading.
Saint Paul says – and this is a very insightful sentence –
“power is made perfect in weakness.” “Power
is made perfect in weakness.”
We, as a Church, as an institutional Church, must remember
our own weakness. One example of this is right in our own lifetime with our
failure in the protection of minors.
If we remember this weakness, then there is great hope. We will be much more understanding of
humanity.
Then we will be a Church that is more concerned with including
everyone than with excluding. We will be
a Church that concerns itself with the care of all persons who want to follow
the way of Jesus in this community of faith, no matter how perfect or
imperfect, no matter how alike to us or different from us they are.
I love our Church with its rich sacramental and spiritual tradition. With that, we need to remain aware, always aware
of our humanity and then accept the humanity of others.
Conclusion
I want to conclude
with the words that Archbishop Gregory of Atlanta used to conclude his
statement.
He again expresses
where I am.
“The [Supreme Court] decision has made my
ministry as a pastor more complex since it demands that I both continue to
uphold the teachings of my Church regarding the Sacrament of Matrimony while
also demanding that I insist upon respect for the human dignity of both those
who approve of the judgment as well as those who may disapprove.”
Amen!
