Two reasons for upholding the Church’s teaching on marriage, namely, that marriage can only be the union of one man and one woman.
First, we have what Jesus taught us and is written in Matthew, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female’ and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?” (Mt 19:5-6) This was in response to a question on divorce, but Jesus is clearly stating that marriage is between one man and one woman. If there is any confusion to Jesus’ words or intent, we just need to look at the disciples’ response a few verses later, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." (Mt 19:10)
At that time, divorce was very common as was polygamy and homosexuality. We see aberrant sexual behavior described in the first chapter of St Paul’s letter to the Romans (Rom 1:24-28) and in other non-Church writings. But, Jesus clearly spells out “male and female” and defines a marriage covenant that is for a lifetime, between one man and one woman. Basically, man and woman are made for each other both bodily and spiritually!
Secondly, God created marriage to carry on God’s work of creation. We see this when Jesus pointed back at Genesis where we have two descriptions of God’s intent at the time of creation. In the first chapter we have God stating, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen 1:28) And, in the second chapter, “a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” In the latter case, this is the description that God intended a man and woman to have intercourse. God is saying through these two statements (as Christ reinforced), that sex is intended to be between a man and woman and the purpose is to generate new life. We know deep in our hearts that sex is all about creating new life.
Finally, the Catechism that is an expression of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition is full of rich descriptions of marriage and God’s intent. (For example, CCC 1602-1620) In these paragraphs on marriage are several statements reinforcing what I stated above. For example, CCC 1616 refers to St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where Paul writes: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church.” (CCC 1616 & Eph 5:31-32)
From Lisa Damiani:
ReplyDeleteThe problem with homosexuality is that it cannot have some of the characteristics of love. As much as the couple wants it to be love, it simply is not. First, they can never transmit life and bring forth a new human person. Second, they are not making a total self-gift because you cannot give yourself to someone of the same sex - does not work in nature's eyes! God wrote in our very bodies that we were made for the opposite gender. Man and woman just don’t make sense apart from each other. In Genesis we recall that after God had created Adam, He realized that “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gn. 2:18) A woman, Eve, was that helper. After God had made Eve, Adam said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Gn. 2: 23, 24).
We see here the beginning of marriage. The only two beings on earth that can truly become one flesh are a man and a woman. Sexually, biologically, spiritually, biblically, and emotionally we can see how a man and woman were made for one another; to complement each other. Homosexual unions, if permitted and encouraged on a world-wide basis, could lead to the demise of mankind. In large part because where would offspring come from?