They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

For all we lost last night in the presidential race, we should be rejoicing in our victory—marriage between one man and one woman has been upheld in California!

California has spoken and it has said YES to traditional marriage, YES to family, YES to giving children both a mommy and a daddy, YES to protecting religious freedom, YES to protecting our schools and hospitals, YES to parental rights.

But we must also remember what California has not said...

To our brothers and sisters who experience same-sex attraction, we want you to know that we love you and wish for your happiness. Our YES vote on Proposition 8 was not a vote of “hate,” but a vote to uphold that which we treasure as sacred, and that is the union that God established to bring about new life—marriage between one man and one woman. We do not wish to take away your right to live and love as you choose. This right belongs to each of us, and is between us and God. But we do wish to keep the institution of marriage as it has always been, and to rebuild it to what it is meant to be—a permanent covenant of love between a man, a woman and God that is total, faithful, and fruitful. We do not believe it is in our capacity to change what God has created, and marriage is not a creation of man, it is a creation of God.

This victory for marriage should be celebrated, but should also be recognized for what it is—only the beginning of the work we have ahead of us. Now is not the time to become complacent. We have restored marriage for the time-being, but it hangs on a thread that if not reinforced will be easily cut.

We Christians must make some drastic changes, and make them fast. The state of marriage today is our own doing, and so it is up to us to undo it.

First and foremost, we need to drastically increase our prayer: the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, devotion to the Divine Mercy and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are just a few of the powerful weapons we have in our prayer arsenal. St. Paul reminds us that it is not man we are fighting against but the “principalities” and the “evil spirits in the Heavens,” and so we must put on the armor of Jesus Christ if we are to win the battle. Prayer is also essential in directing our hearts towards the will of God and giving us the power of His Divine Mercy and Love towards our brothers and sisters.

Second, we need to increase education about God's design for love and sexuality. It is without a doubt that misunderstanding and the absence of instruction on the meaning of sexuality are what have lead us to this point. We are in urgent need of leadership from our Church in this area, which will require great courage from our bishops and priests. It will not be an easy task for them, but Jesus promised us that following Him would not be easy. We need to pray for our church leaders and give them encouragement.

Third, we need to pray about how each of us can get involved in restoring marriage and sexuality, according to God's design. For those of us who are married, our first step must be to conform our own marriages to the will of God so that we may be able to speak of it to others from personal experience.

Last, but perhaps most importantly, we need to act with unfailing love and compassion towards our brothers and sisters who experience same-sex attraction. They will know we are Christians by our love, and so this we cannot compromise.