I have been thinking a lot about marriage and abortion, particularly in relation to the Catholic Faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church devotes an entire section to Matrimony. It is detailed in Part 2 Chapter 3 Article 7 if you would like to read it.
The opening statement says “the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”
There are a lot of key points in that single statement – man and woman, partnership, whole life, and procreation. Unfortunately, many couples have not necessarily planned for a life-long commitment, but rather enter marriage with an attitude of if it works, it works. They lack fundamental communications skills (usually because of technology) and view much of their lives as “disposable”.
The same is true of pregnancy. Oftentimes, in today’s world, pregnancy is not viewed as a gift from God, but rather as something that needs to be dealt with because it is inconvenient. Unfortunately, we have normalized abortion in our country. And there are far too many “Catholics” who are pro-choice.
So let’s look at what the Catechism says about that; “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”
Again, a lot of key points in that paragraph – but the first sentence really states it all. Ironic that so many people who “preach” about respect are the very same people who advocate murder and try to justify it by denying science. These people claim to want justice and equality all while perpetrating the moral evil of abortion on the most helpless and defenseless.
We live in a disposable society. If you don’t like something or if it offends you, simply get rid of it or force it to change (rather than change yourself). This is acceptable, in fact, it is encouraged. This is true for everything. Think about it, don’t like the way a school is run, force the school to change its policies (or remove its statues, cover up its murals, etc.). Aren’t satisfied with your job, simply leave with no notice and no other opportunities simply because you aren’t happy. Maybe even file a lawsuit because you have conceived some injustice from that employer, and it is their fault that you are now unemployed. It is true with everything. You get a puppy for your child for Christmas but find out it is far too much work. Take him to shelter and leave him.
What about marriage? I am not saying people should never get divorced, there are definite reasons why a marriage should and does end. I am talking about when marriage is entered into so nonchalantly, when people view it as disposable, with an attitude that “if it doesn’t work out, we’ll just get a divorce.” That is not the intention of the sacrament. And what about pregnancy? You already know how I feel about this, but now it’s legal to terminate a “mistake” or an “accident” as long as it is done within the womb, in most cases. We have become so desensitized that in some cases, the child can be murdered after birth. And if the abortion is botched and the child is somehow born alive, some healthcare providers (and I use that term loosely) will refuse to provide medical attention to a suffering infant. This is the most helpless in our society, and rather than nurture and protect life, we kill it. Rather than see it as the gift that it is, we mutilate, torture, and destroy a child because it is inconvenient. And we justify it by saying it is not human. We deny science because the truth is inconvenient. Again, placing more value on feelings rather than facts. We live in a disposable society. You can get rid of anything.
But the biggest misconception within marriage is that God doesn’t need to be a part of the marriage. If I am being honest, when I was in my 20’s and going through the pre-cana classes, I thought the very same thing. “What does God have to do with my marriage”. What I actually thought was “What does God have to do with my life?” The answer is everything.
Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that until relatively recently. And we are now seeing the ramifications of God’s absence in our world. But He does need to be a part of our lives, in fact, He should be the center of it (I am still working on that part). We have removed God from almost every aspect of our lives in a country that was founded on Christian principles. Ironic, isn’t it? I truly believe that is the root cause of all that is wrong in the world. We have shut God out and we need to invite Him back in.
So today, make God part of your day even if it’s just a small part, and try to make Him a part of your day every day. Together we (you, me, and God) can begin to change our “disposable” world and shed a little bit of light in this dark place. And today, please pray for me and I will continue to pray for you.
Tattoos, Motorcycles, Beer, Bourbon and Faith 