From the Parish Priest – Fr. Romey Rosco
Recently, more than fifty leaders of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish groups in America formed the Religious Coalition for Marriage. Their aim was to mount a major grassroots campaign urging the U.S. Senate to approve an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Their document, also signed by our Metropolitan Herman, was aimed at the protection of marriage as a union between a man and a woman and sent to every member of Congress.
Unfortunately, Congress chose to play politics with this critically important issue. The President was accused of waiting too long and then offering support for the amendment only to bring religious conservatives back into the Republican camp for the upcoming election. The opposing party insisted that there are “more important” matters to worry about, like the price of gas and the war in Iraq.
As a result, there will be no amendment (at least for the time being), and gay and lesbian groups will continue their push to reform and redefine marriage in American society.
God bless His Beatitude Herman and every other church leader who signed that document, as well as everyone who made the effort to impress our spineless politicians with the importance of stopping this horrible trend. Anyone who understands Scripture and the teachings of the Church since the time of the Apostles realizes that homosexual acts are to be condemned as morally wrong. Therefore, any kind of “marriage” between members of the same sex (whether religious or secular) sanctioning such acts is wrong and must be condemned.
Indeed, God Himself condemns it: “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. It is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22)
“If a man lies with a man as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination…Their blood shall be upon them.” (Leviticus 20:13)
God calls it an “abomination.” The word is derived from the Latin ab homine meaning “away from man” or inhuman, and it is defined as “that which is disgusting, loathsome.” If God finds it loathsome, it’s because it goes against the very nature of man as God created him to be and, therefore, against the will of God.
Homosexual and lesbian acts are in violation of God’s laws, both natural and moral. If our leaders continue to bury their heads in the sand on the matter of gay “rights,” allowing activist judges to continually strike down states’ decisions that defend traditional marriage, what will be the next step?
First, we heard that we must be compassionate toward the gay community. (The Church has always shown compassion to those who repent of their sins.) Then we were told to accept them as living an “alternative lifestyle.” Now, we must let them redefine (for our children!) the purpose and meaning of marriage. Next will come the implosion of American society as its most basic element, the family, is diminished and destroyed.
History has recorded the demise of another great society that once embraced sexual perversion and moral depravity as a norm: the Roman Empire.
Shame on those who flaunt their sins! Shame on those politicians who show no moral leadership! Shame on us for watching it happen, even in the world around us, and saying nothing. Such action (and inaction) will bring judgment from God.
From The Weekly Bulletin, Vol. XXXIII No. 24, 11 June 2006
Sts. Peter & Paul Romanian Orthodox Church, Dearborn Heights MI
