So, being the huge Church geek I am...

I emailed our new pastor and asked him if I could share the letter he wrote and is currently on our parish website. He said yes, and that he was grateful to God that we joined his parish! So awesome!

So, here it is... It's a whole bunch of controversial topics wrapped up into one perfect letter.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Written by Fr. Don Kline on May 20, 2012

This past week, Bishop Doherty forwarded a new website sponsored by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops about the Sacrament of Marriage. As marriage is under attack today, we would all do well to familiarize ourselves with the church's teaching that is clearly given on this site.

A few days later, I watched a Vice President Joe Biden interview--a life long Catholic during which the vice president, without giving any detail of his position, sanctioned "gay marriage" and credited the situation comedy, "Will and Grace" for opening the American mind to gay people. Needless to say, I was saddened.

The topic of gay marriage on its surface is most often defined in terms of rights and feelings. And who wants to be on the opposing side of a debate that the secular media and world has championed and where any opposition is framed in terms of bigotry and hatred? Still it is perhaps one of the most important debates in which Catholics must engage in the modern day.

In one section of the website named below, there is a specific precursor to the issue of gay marriage. It explains that, "The body – male or female – is an essential part of being human. Gender is not an afterthought or a mere social construct. The body shapes what it means to love as a human person. It continues: The word "marriage" isn't simply a label that can be attached to different types of relationships. Instead, "marriage" reflects a deep reality – the reality of the unique, fruitful, lifelong union that is only possible between a man and a woman.

As we know, the intimate union of marriage is the only context for the transmission of human life. No other relationship, no matter how loving or committed, can have this unique form of commitment.

One conclusion caught my eye on which we should all seriously reflect. That is: The love between a husband and a wife involves a free, total, and faithful mutual gift of self that not only expresses love, but also opens the spouses to receive the gift of a child. (Read that one twice!)

What I love about this statement is the consistency of the Catholic position. That is, many human relationships are loving. But Jesus instituted marriage as the only sanctioned relationship with this two-fold purpose. That is, a sacramental bond of intimate love (unitive) that can produce human life (procreative). This is what God ordained and intends.

So what falls short of the ideal? A gay marriage relationship does not meet these criteria as there can be no transmission of life. But as Catholics, we need to remind ourselves that other sexual expression outside and even inside marriage fall short as well. Let's be specific: cohabitation, masturbation, a marriage that includes artificial contraception, oral sex, polygamy and so on.

I believe that our often-casual dissent about the purpose and context of human sexuality has paved the way for the current debate about gay marriage. We have fallen down a slippery slope that Pope Paul VI warned us about some 43 years ago when he wrote Humane Vitae. That is, sexual expression is now seen as a right, not a gift, and with few to no parameters, context or limits. Sadly, for many, absent the procreative dimension, sexual expression has been reduced to mere instinct and this has had disastrous affect on our world. One of those effects is the assault on the institution of marriage.

The Bishops have done a great service to the church by compiling this website. Please take some time to educate yourself and be prepared to charitably explain the truth to others. Please visit www.marriageuniqueforareason.org.

God Bless, Fr. Kline