​​​An invitation to love

In my statement issued upon learning of the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, I concluded, “With love and respect to every human person, the church will continue to invite men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation, to walk their journey of faith with us, discovering God’s plan for them and for all society.”

These words only begin to express my deepest desire to change hearts in order to respond to the universal call to holiness.
Since the court’s decision, I have been hearing the slogan, “Love wins.” God’s plan for each of us to be holy always contains an invitation to love and to be loved. We fully express and receive God’s love when we live fully in God’s plan. In the liturgy celebrating the sacrament of Matrimony we pray, “Father, to reveal the plan of your love, you made the union of husband and wife an image of the covenant between you and your people.” This prayer expresses the uniqueness of the marital relationship.

In an attempt to help people better understand this holy calling to marriage, the Church explains how marriage is not simply about love and commitment between two people, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. “Of course love and commitment are important for marriage-as they are for many relationships. But marriage is unique because the commitment it calls us to is better described as communion, where ‘the two become one flesh.’ Only a man and a woman in marriage can become a “one flesh” communion. The unity of husband and wife is so intimate that from it can come a “third,” the child-a new life to be welcomed and raised in love.” In this way, holy, pure and life giving love truly wins.

Marriage between one man and one woman serves the good of the husband and wife, the good of the children that may be the fruit of their marriage, and it most certainly serves the common good. While this is certainly consistent with many religions’ deepest held beliefs, it does not relieve government from its obligation to serve society by preserving marriage between one man and one woman. A judicial body cannot rob our society of this beautiful invitation to love and holiness with a single vote or the stroke of a pen. The union of one man and one woman in marriage is more than a mere human convention or a legal contract, it also reflects the truth that can be discovered in Natural Law and the nature of the human person, affirmed by religious belief.

Our Catholic faith and understanding of God’s plan remains an invitation to love, including a call to each one of us to continue to reach out and compassionately help those who have yet to embrace the reality and truth of marriage to come to a change of heart, and allow love to be victorious. If love is to win, we must not break off contact with our homosexual brothers and sisters. We must not exclude them from our affection and respect. We must open the doors to our hearts and the reality of marriage that we are willing and anxious to share. Anger and exclusion are not the appropriate response, as these would be a barrier to our own call to holiness. Let us direct our brothers and sisters toward a path of understanding the unique beauty of the sacrament of matrimony between one man and one woman, walking alongside them so they can see this sacred sign of God’s unconditional love among us, and that will lead them to a holy communion that itself is sacred, life giving, and love sharing.

Let us embrace this opportunity for evangelization, helping society to see that the Church’s definition of marriage is an invitation to, in God’s plan, let “Love Win.”