The Bishops' Marriage Initiative

Bishops have the fullness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. We are reminded of this in the Vatican II documents. Part of the office of the bishop is to teach and this is a significant aspect of their office. If they do not teach, how are the faithful to be reminded of the beliefs of our Faith? Sometimes the faithful needed to be reminded often of the elements and often basic elements of our Faith. Cardinal Avery Dulles used to say that we don't need new teachings, we just need to be reminded of what the old teachings are (to paraphrase him).

These past few weekends, the Bishops of the state of New Jersey reminded the faithful of what marriage is. Two weeks ago, they issues a document called the Bishops' Message on Marriage, simply reminding the faithful of the teaching of the Church regarding marriage: how it is good for society; that it is always and only constituted by a male and female; how it is for the good of children in our society and that marriage clearly displays the complementarity of the sexes. Finally, this document reminds us that marriage comes, not from a specific religion or from a government or from laws, but from God. Because God "created them male and female," He is the author of marriage which predates religions, governments and laws.

At the same time, the Bishops of New Jersey are asking the faithful to sign a petition that will be presented to their local legislators, asking them to enforce the Civil Union Act of 2007 which gives all the legal rights to same-sex couples, but not to redefine marriage as something other than that which is between a man and a female.

I am proud of the Bishops. In the eyes of the public, this is a sticky situation, but for those crying out for a better understanding of Catholic church teaching, it is an important and much needed stance. We don't need a new teaching on marriage, we just need to be reminded of the old teaching often.

There will be more on this topic in the next few months.

Just a day at the beach

I think often we take the everyday things in life for granted too often. Flowers, the giggles of children, sunrises, the smell of freshly-cut grass and so many other "ordinary" things. I think that there is nothing as forceful a reminder of the existence of God as a day on the beach. We see God's incredible power in His pushing the waves in and out; the majesty of the birds gliding through the air; feel of the strong, covering sun upon our bodies, as surely this is what God's presence feels like.

I always believed that if and when we enjoy the Beatific Vision of sitting face-to-face with God in Heaven, it would feel something like the sunlight on our skin. The beauty of this is that even if one cannot hear or see or speak while on earth now, we can get a sense of God's presence with the feel of the sun.

So often- and rightly so- the Eternal Banquet has been likened to the celebration of the Eucharist. There will be feasting and joy and togetherness and perfection of souls and utter bliss simply because we are in God's presence. At the beach yesterday, I believe I got a smaller glimpse of the Eternal Banquet by seeing the sun and witnessing God's omnipotence and seeing life enjoying God's wonders and most of all, by feeling God's seemingly divine light shine upon me.