When God commanded men to have dominion over all the earth, they took it to heart. Over the ages men have carved out mountains, redirected rivers, reclaimed land from the sea, made the desert bloom. In the process, they have also denuded and made barren lands where there used to be forests and mountains, polluted the air and the sea, cause the extinction of many plant and animal species.
But standing before this awesome vista of the grottoes in Bryce Canyon, one cannot but stop and stare in wordless wonder. One is overwhelmed by the utter beauty. you may not touch it. Do not tamper, fold , or mutilate. It causes us pause to realize there are something that are left as they are. As God meant them to be.
I write my thoughts today with a lot of trepidation. I am thinking of friends and family who may be disappointed, frustrated, and even hurt by what I will say. “Male and female, He created them.” today’s Gospel tells us. I believe there are only two sexes: man and woman. I accept and respect there may be more than two genders. And gender can be a matter of choice. But sex is physically determined and therefore limited. I can accept, respect, and love people of different genders. And I will fight for their rights to be accepted, respected, and loved. But marriage for me is always between two persons of different sexes.
I can see two gay persons living together in love and having a family by adopting children. But marriage it is not. A man, not necessarily gay, leaves everything and vows to live in obedience and chastity in a community of love with other men. That is not a marriage, but it is living together in love. This is not a marriage but it is nonetheless and binding and lasting relationship.
Today’s Gospel also talks about marriage not being for everyone:
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
It is sad to see how marriage seems to be losing favor among those for whom it was meant to be. Marriages seems to be some problematic and brittle these days that those who are not married often lose all motivation to get married. This is not surprising in a world where the capacity for true love is also fast going out of fashion.
I feel the need to speak out and I hardly know what to say or do in the face of all the changes happening to us these days.