Like Beauty, Marriage Is In the Eye of the Beholder

This has been a strange week for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the Supreme Court issued two rulings that have thrown gasoline on the already-raging fire that surrounds the concept of "gay marriage." I know you are familiar with the California Prop 8 case and the DOMA case, so I won't linger on them. And in all honesty, I was not the least bit surprised by either outcome. Both were what I expected.

Still, I have grown so weary of the continued battering by Liberals of those of us who continue to cling to a God-given belief that marriage can only be constituted between one man and one woman. It makes me sick in my heart. In the name of "tolerance" we are supposed to bow to the minority view that marriage is essentially nothing more than a choice between two (for now) people who love each other to live together (while they love each other) and get the benefits that go along with it. 

In reality, "marriage" has not been true marriage in this country for decades. The fact that divorce is so easily obtainable shows that, in reality, we have not had a single-understanding of marriage for probably a century. The Catholic teaching on marriage has been at odds with the non-Catholic world for much of the last century. Indeed, the concept of indissolubility as a fundamental element of marriage is as foreign to most Catholics as it is to non-Catholics.

I was well-tuned to this when I was a judge in the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal a number of years ago. I recall vividly how most non-Catholics who were pulled into a marriage case could not understand why their marriages had to be examined when they divorced and wanted to marry a Catholic. Similarly, Catholics often fumed when their previous marriages to non-Catholics had to be examined for validity when the Catholic party desired to marry again. I could write a book on all the ins and outs of Tribunal life, but it would not really serve a purpose. When it comes to having their (former) marriages examined by a Tribunal, most people just do what they have to do to get on with their lives.

Image found at www.fopohiolodge50.org

And that, I suspect, is what will happen in the wake of the Supreme Court decisions this week. There is no real effect on most of us. One case merely made same sex marriage legal in California (again), and the other will wreak havoc on how federal benefits and tax breaks are awarded. President Obama assures Americans that he will not force ministers to marry same sex couples -- as if he COULD do so.

My only other observation on this subject as we move into this weekend before our nation celebrates Independence  Day is that freedom always comes at a price -- and so does losing ones freedom.

**************************

A Return to Blogging

I have not posted in a long time. In fact, it was December 24, 2012, the last time I had anything to say. Well, at least that I was willing to post here. A lot has happened since then, as time does not stand still. On this "half-Christmas" I thought I would pick myself up and post something. I am listening to a book on tape about a woman who started blogging after her marriage crumbled and she was fired from her job for being too old -- at age 45. No, my marriage is not crumbling, and I am not being fired (that I know of, although a colleague did get fired on the spot a couple of weeks ago, with no notice, but that is a whole different story -- maybe I will write about it some time).

Anyhow, my first blog post coming back from hiatus will pick up on another story that captured my heart last year. It is the miracle boy named Dominic Pio, who underwent multiple surgeries to repair facial birth defects when he was only a few months old. I was so inspired by his story that I wrote about him several times before Christmas. So, I checked his website to see how he is doing, and I just watched a video that a local Wisconsin TV news station did on Dominic and his wonderful family. It brought tears to my eyes. Here is the link to the story:

The only thing certain was love - TODAY'S TMJ4

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/193445511.html

What a joy it is to see the progress that Baby Dominic is making. His mom recently posted an update on his and their family's progress. She homeschools their seven other children, which is a monumental task in and of itself. Here is one of the You Tube video that Mary Gundrum posted showing what a happy little boy Dominic is. It is evident that his siblings love him immensely from the loving attention his two sisters give him in this video!

May God continue to bless Dominic and his entire family!