Battle to Protect the Word

The New Zealand Parliament passed on August 29, 2012 on first reading (80 in favour, 40 against) the proposed legislation to recognize same-sex marriage. Since 2001, eleven jurisdictions have legalized same-sex marriage, namely Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Sweden.

All six of New Zealand’s Catholic Bishops have taken a strong stance against the bill, and will do so every step of the way. The issue has brought together different denominations other than Catholic, including Anglican, Baptist, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and orthodox Jewish.

Fifty liberal clergy and laity from Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Quaker denominations, though, criticised the bishops. They said, "To suggest, as you do, that marriage based on biblical precepts is frozen in stone and cannot develop or change is to ignore reality."

It then struck me as I listened to the Gospel about the Pharisees who criticised Jesus’ followers who failed to wash their hands before meal, to which Christ responded: "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." (Mark 7:1-8) God’s commands are cast in stone.

Jesus was clear about marriage: “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Mark 10:6-9)

Let me quote the Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand to young New Zealanders: “The reality, as Jesus observed, is that male and female pair with each other. Males and females are different and complementary, each has a significant role to play in the nurturing of children. We come from one family and we set out to make another one. Marriage is not merely a human construction, it is the legal recognition of something natural. Civil law reflects and protects human nature. Society promotes and affirms the married state for the sake of the couple and for the sake of their children. The Church considers marriage to be the first blessing from the Creator and celebrates it as a sacrament. Christians did not invent marriage; it has been part of every human society throughout history. Legislators did not invent marriage; when the laws were written they were taking account of a pre-existing reality. We address this letter to you, rather than only to church members, because of the universality of marriage.”

There comes a time when we are called upon to take a stand for our faith. This is the moment. Pro-gay marriage proponents and supporters will throw anything at us, in this battle to protect the Word on marriage and on family. Let us stand united and be unafraid. God is with us.