Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Archbishop Chaput makes the point with clarity

Thank God for leaders like Chaput. So often I dive into a subject and my attempt looks feeble or my reasoning is full of holes. Then I read something written by one of these wise men and am find what I was trying to say in much clearer and often more charitable terms.

“Marriage”, he continued, “as a lifelong relationship between one man and one woman exists for the benefit of children and the protection of women. Society depends on children and the way we form their lives.”

Some critics also point to the fact that the Christian divorce rate is on par with the skyrocketing national standard. To this, the Archbishop said that “The fact that marriages frequently fail does not change the purpose of marriage. Rather, it proves that we too often do a poor job of preparing people for what marriage really entails and supporting them in the demands of mature married life.”

Archbishop Chaput stressed that “The Christian case for marriage and the family is a message of liberation and real human dignity. It is not “against” anyone. It is for the happiness of human society.” [emphasis added]

And his comment on the misuse of the word "tolerance" needs to be proclaimed from the rooftops.
We need to govern our actions toward all people with the virtues of justice, charity, mercy, wisdom and prudence. But “tolerance,” if it leads us to live a lie or compromise away the truth about human relationships, is not a virtue. It is the opposite.”

Archbishop Chaput makes good use of the todays technology and the media. Kudos to him for understanding how we hear and what we need to hear. The bottom line:
“If we remove, or even indirectly compromise, the central role and preferential treatment of marriage in our culture,” he said, “we undermine both our families and the long-term health of our society.”

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