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This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear friends,
Marriage matters. Marriage matters on all levels. Marriage matters to the men and women joined together in it, to children, to families, to communities, to our nation, and to the Church. Marriage is foundational to the stability of humankind, to the health and welfare of nations, and to our future.
All of that can be stated without recourse to theology, Sacred Scripture, or to 2,000 years of Church teaching. The fact that marriage matters has been known by human beings since before Jesus Christ was born.
It’s been known since the very beginning, because it is inscribed on the hearts of rational man and woman. Not only can the natural reproductive function of human anatomy be clearly seen, but the natural benefits of a stable, fundamental unit of society, made up of father, mother, and child, can be immediately realized.
God’s plan for marriage
Beyond that, however, we as Christians believe that, in His love for humanity, God has revealed his plan for marriage time and time again. From the creation of Adam and Eve, through the giving of “the law” as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, to the creation of a “new law,” in Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, to the elevation of Holy Matrimony to an inviolable Sacrament, God Himself has made clear in extraordinary ways that marriage matters.
Since the time that there was a Church (and before), marriage has been between one man and one woman, for one lifetime, with openness to children. It is for this reason (particularly in defense of the marriage bond) that St. John the Baptist, St. Thomas More, and so many others spoke truth to power at the expense of their own lives; it is for this reason (particularly in defense of the fruitfulness of marriage) that Blessed Pope Paul VI made clear, in the face of much dissent, that human procreation must not be stymied by artificial means of birth control; and it is for this reason in our own day (particularly in defense of the reality of marriage between one man and one woman), that the Church and her faithful have taken such abuse for saying (with love) that there is no such thing as “gay marriage.”
