Maryland Petition For Marriage Referendum Underway

Maryland Catholics, other Christians, and men and women of good­will are joined in an effort headed by the Maryland Marriage Alliance to gather one- third of the necessary 56,000 signatures by May 31 in or­der to successfully petition for a referendum of the unjust usurpation of their self-determination by a clutch of elected officials in Annapolis, who imposed a law conferring the status of marriage upon same- sex unions. Those who oppose God are quick to accuse as haters those Catholics and others who defend the unique status of marriage as ordained by God’s creative will and sanctified by Christ. Because of a profound lack of faith formation, many Catholics are quick to buckle under the current bar­rage of invective that is unloaded upon those who act in the legislative and political process to demand that our laws reflect God’s will and pro­tect the social good of marriage, the basic cell of society.

Why do we do this? “ The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Cre­ator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised mar­riage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament ( cf. CIC, canon 1055 § 1; cf. GS 48 § 1)” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1660).

As witnesses for Christ we have a right to demand, to lobby, and to vote that Maryland laws reflect, support, and uphold the will of God. Marriage is not a selfish, capricious, and auto-generated coming together of any two adults; it is a state of life that is sacred, arising from the unique capability of one man and one woman to unite in a bond of love that also has the capaci­ty to generate new life. Marriage is oriented also toward the dignity of those children who may come into the world through the natural gift of the mari­tal act open to procreation shared by man-husband and woman-wife.

What this is not is judgment or condemnation of those who disagree or who do not want to obey God’s law. We teach, we witness, and we propose. We do not judge or in any way desire harm to those who op­pose us or who disagree with us. It is a libel and a judgment for those who disagree with us to accuse us of hatred. We insist to all who will listen that to propose the truth is an act of love because it is a witness to the love of God. We include in this loving witness also those who know­ingly and willingly disobey God and His holy will as expressed in na­ture and divine law and which is fulfilled in the law of Christ.

Again, marriage is not a legal or religious blessing conferred upon an inherently selfish arrangement of life between two adults but rather a unique and selfless imitation of God because it is also oriented toward the generation of children who have a right to be brought into the world by a man-father and a woman-mother. Children have a right to be raised by both a father and a mother as opposed to some other unnatural arrangement which is forced upon them by the choice of two same-sex adults.

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Prayer For Religious Liberty From Our Bishops:

Almighty God, Father of all nations, For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus ( Gal. 5: 1).

We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foun­dation of human rights, justice, and the common good.

Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our lib­erties; By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.

We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

+ + + ( Visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy at mcitl. blogspot. com for teach­ings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church paired with the Scrip­tures of Holy Mass for every day of the week. Fr. Cusick blogs at APriestLife. blogspot. com and you can e- mail him at mcitl. blogspot. com@gmail.com.)