A Father's Day Reflection

Along with so many other people of faith – and of no particular religion at all – we Catholic pastors and citizens persevere, on this Father’s Day, in our prayers and efforts to defend the timeless definition of marriage as the loving, faithful union between one man and one woman leading to a family.

At the conclusion of tomorrow’s 10:15 Sunday Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, I’ll ask for prayers that this noble endeavor, at the heart of nature’s understanding of the common good, and historically protected by our country’s normative principles, will succeed.

We appreciate and encourage the legitimate concern of some of our thoughtful elected officials to make sure religious freedom is always guaranteed, but still in principle will oppose any radical bill to redefine the very essence of marriage.

While one searches the Constitution in vain to find any “right” of two people of the same sex to marry, one immediately locates the right of people of faith not to have intrusive government interfere with the free exercise of religion as the first of the Bill of Rights.

One has to wonder why the proponents of this radical re-definition, who claim overwhelming popular support, would not consider, for example, a referendum to determine the people’s will on such a drastic departure from traditional values?

Please let me once again resist the caricature that we are “anti-gay.” Our strong convictions are not anti anybody, but simply pro marriage. We would just as vigorously defend marriage from a demand by a heterosexual, or anybody else, to redefine the very nature of marriage to accommodate a relationship beyond that of one man and one woman.

We celebrate Father’s Day. The sacred word “father” implies “mother.” The terms “father and mother” presume “husband and wife,” and imply “children.”

These words are so basic that they’re the first ones a baby says; so foundational that they’re among the first words of the Creator recorded in the Bible.

Government presumes to redefine these sacred words at the peril of the common good.