Homily

Last Sunday I tried to lay a foundation for what I wanted to talk about today. And for those of you who weren't here, briefly I spoke of how political people have become in the past few decades. And by political, I don't just mean Republican or Democrat, or voting on ballot measures. I also mean relying increasingly on the government to assist us and direct our lives, looking at life as a struggle between competing power groups, viewing morality only in terms of whether or not something is legal. Then we also have the groups and the movements who claim that their rights and freedoms are being trampled on and denied them by their fellow citizens. These are so-called rights and freedoms that no Christian society or country ever heard of until recent years, but there are people who refuse to quit telling us they actually do exist.

One example is so-called gay marriage. You may have read or heard in the news this past week that the political action group in Oregon that is pressing for same-sex marriage recognition is not going to put this on a ballot in the next election year because they don't think they can win yet. I heard an interview on the radio of a spokesman for this group. The interviewer asked the woman a question: "Since Oregon voters amended the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman just seven years ago, why do you think that you can win the vote for gay marriage at any time in the future?" And the woman basically answered that they just needed more time to educate people about the equal rights and freedoms that are now being denied to gay people. Once people understand the suffering of gay people who cannot marry, and see how they are being denied their civil rights, people will change their minds.

And, in my estimation, I think she is correct that given enough time and being constantly in the public arena with these ideas, the voters of Oregon will indeed, not too far in the future, pass a law that recognizes something that is called gay marriage. But I don't think it will be the result of more education producing a more enlightened group of voters, and that is why they will change their minds. I think this change will happen as more and more the Christian people of this state drift further and further away from faith. If we do not hold to the morality we have received from Jesus Christ, if we do not adhere to the Gospel message as completely true and worthy, if we do not hold Our Lord as the center of our lives, then we do not have a solid basis to deny gay people what they want. And this is the same basic reason behind what we have seen so many other times, in laws changing regarding contraception, abortion, easy divorce, greater freedom for pornography, the right to suicide, and the list could go on. In a recent poll, 61% of people who said they were Catholic approved of passing a law to allow gay marriage. How can this be, I wondered? It is because they are either ignorant and do not understand the Christian moral teaching on this issue, or else they disregard it and act against it on their own authority, because they decide for themselves what is right and wrong. But, no matter how they may describe themselves, they are not Catholic, but Catholic-ish. They are not committed members of the Body of Christ; they are part-time believers.

As we see the common Christian moral values that used to define America as a Christian nation being knocked down, one by one, with no end in sight, we should be concerned. When we as a people take apart and tear away at our common moral understanding, the definition of what is right and wrong ends up being decided by each individual person, and of course this can easily turn into what is right for me, and who cares about you? And then, not relying on common moral values, the state becomes the only way to regulate the behavior of people. The state becomes our moral guide. What could go wrong there? And this is the answer I would give to those who say, "I wouldn't do this myself, but if other people want to do it, why should I stand their way. So I'm voting yes." That's the thought process many people use: "I can't put my morality on you, so I will vote for this thing." They don't seem to realize that by taking this position, they are allowing the other side to put their morality on them, and their children, and the whole community, and the state becomes the enforcer of a new moral position. LIFE issues, before birth, in disabled individuals, and in old age—if life is not valued, then what is next—more "compassion?"

I was reading a talk given by Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia this past week. Here is part of what he said, because he is much smarter than I:

"Too many people who claim to be Christian simply don't know Jesus Christ. They don't really believe in the Gospels. They feel embarrassed by their religion and vaguely out of step with the times. They may keep their religion for comfort value. Or they may adjust it to fit their doubts. But it doesn't reshape their lives because it isn't real. And because it isn't real, it has no transforming effect on their personal behavior, no social force and few public consequences.
. . .
"Augustine reminds us that the City of Man and the City of God intermingle. We have obligations to each. But our final home and our real citizenship are not in this world. Politics is important, but it's never the main focus or purpose of a Christian life. If we do not know and love Jesus Christ, and commit our lives to him, and act on what we claim to believe, everything else is empty. But if we do, so much else is possible—including the conversion of at least some of the world around us. The only question that finally matters to any of us is the one Jesus posed to his apostles: "Who do you say I am?" Everything depends on the answer. Faith leads in one direction; the lack of it in another. But the issue is faith—always and everywhere, whether we're scholars or doctors or priests or lawyers or mechanics. Do we believe in Jesus Christ, or don't we? And if we do, what are we going to do about it?"