Supreme Court Ruling on Same Sex Marriage

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Pater_Noster said:
Easy to say and possibly difficult to do, but don’t be discouraged. The recent events have had a positive effect on me as they’ve spurred me on to seek solace in the Gospels and amp up my prayer life.

Remember, Christ never said that others would be irritated or annoyed by our beliefs and find them “kinda weird”. He flat out said we will be HATED. Did this cause the apostles and early Christians to lament when they were beaten and martyred? As hard as it may seem to us, they REJOICED! Why? They knew by being hated that they were on the right side! They were following the path to enter through the NARROW gate!

I certainly can’t say that the recent events don’t bother or concern me; they do. * However, I also have to say that I believe this is an exciting time to be Catholic. Yes, you heard me correctly.* An exciting time to be Catholic. An easy time? A comfortable time? A safe time? No. And it will get worse in that regard. I hold my head up high through this. I go to confession regularly and have a joy in my heart. “Do not fear those that can harm the body. I will be with you to deliver you says the Lord”. God has an all loving plan for us no matter what this world brings.

I am personally powerless against the devil and this world in my weakness and my sin . But Christ is my savior. I know whose side I have chosen to be on; so whatever the world may rush at me with I say: “Bring it.” In the Communion of Saints, remember that we are the Church Militant. There is a battle. However, what I think we often lose sight of is the fact that Christ has already won the battle; we have to choose what side we’re on and we’re given the free will to do so.

Courage and the peace of Jesus be with you!

ChrisL
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Thank you for this. I appreciate all and will also be rereading. I know dark times are here and more darkness looms. But, if He is for us, who can be against us?

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36Just as it is written,
Code: 
        “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
         WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will *be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39

Deo Gratias

Courage and the peace of Jesus be with you also.
 
FollowChrist34 said:
We can evangelize but each individual person accepts or rejects God and God saves whom he will. You can only do what you can do. Please don’t take the weakness and sin of others so personally or so hard! You’ll be all right. You didn’t make this happen. You’re still in the same place you were before. …
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I worry about our nation because I have children. What will they face in the future? Has my Church become my nation now? America has decayed so much and so rapidly and liberty and freedom have been decimated now. Persecution for Christians seems inevitable, considering what has happened with this ruling.
FollowChrist34 said:
…Perhaps try a break from social media for awhile. A day or two. Just do stuff you like to do. You’ll come back nice and energized. 🙂 Good is still all around you.
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I don’t spend time on social media. I had taken a long hiatus from CAF and just recently returned, but maybe I should rethink that. You are correct that good is still all around, but so is evil. Those forces are certainly clashing. The darkness threatens to overtake the light here in America. I cannot know what will prevail, but evil currently seems stronger, and chaos and confusion are flourishing. But, we know the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church. So, ever onward we go. While we go, prayer and fasting and staying close to our Lord and following the teachings of His Church and sharing those teachings in charity are essential. 👍👍
 
SwizzleStick said:
I worry about our nation because I have children. What will they face in the future? Has my Church become my nation now? America has decayed so much and so rapidly and liberty and freedom have been decimated now. Persecution for Christians seems inevitable, considering what has happened with this ruling.

I don’t spend time on social media. I had taken a long hiatus from CAF and just recently returned, but maybe I should rethink that. You are correct that good is still all around, but so is evil. Those forces are certainly clashing. The darkness threatens to overtake the light here in America. I cannot know what will prevail, but evil currently seems stronger, and chaos and confusion are flourishing. But, we know the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church. So, ever onward we go. While we go, prayer and fasting and staying close to our Lord and following the teachings of His Church and sharing those teachings in charity are essential. 👍👍
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A wise Jesuit priest who was the retreat director on one of my annual silent retreats some years ago told me: “Discouragement never comes from God.” When such times in my life come up, I always come back to that.

I know exactly where you’re coming from regarding concern for our children’s future.

In a literal sense until now, being a Catholic who goes to Mass every Sunday or maybe not even every Sunday and only goes to confession on rare occasion or perhaps hasn’t gone in years and does not share his/her faith with others has required almost no real commitment.

Going forward, it seems apparent to me that remaining Catholic will require an ever stronger commitment. Truly being in it for the long haul. Anyone not willing to commit, come what may, will fall away. Who would be looked down upon, ridiculed, shamed at the least or persecuted by being part of something they’re not committed to?

I know for myself, if I were to simply attend Mass on Sunday and think of God for an hour per week, I’d be a goner. Instead, my wife and I decided to “batten down the spiritual hatches” and join Teams of Our Lady, a Roman Catholic lay organization about a year ago. A community within our church community. We meet regularly with the four other couples in our group and a dear priest who is committed to our group. All eleven us us eat together, share together, pray together and even periodically worship together meeting for Mass, just the eleven of us. Our kids play together and the children see the importance and joy in “two or more gathering together” to pray.

I urge my fellow Catholic brothers and sisters to form stronger bonds with those in your church community that have as strong a desire for Christ as you do. Start a Bible study or prayer group. Come Holy Spirit, kindle in our hearts the fire of Your Love!

Chrisl
 
Somehow, this thread has been picked up by other internet forums, and the comments in this thread are being mocked. Some of them, rightfully so. Please watch what you say.

btw, hi GAF. 😛 I know we’re far apart on this issue (and many others, haha), but I would just like to say that maybe we can reach an understanding of sorts through clear and charitable dialogue. The key to understanding why there is so much disconnect between us is that there is a fundamental difference in our philosophical paradigms, and this affects everything to our moral reasoning, our political reasoning, and even our views about reason itself! This might come as a surprise, but the fact that we’re Catholic and you’re not is merely incidental. The real reason why we have difficulty getting across our views is that we simply do not have any philosophical points of reference in common.

A book that I would like to recommend, and can provide to you if requested, is The Last Superstition by Edward Feser. It’s a polemic against New Atheism, yes, but it is a fantastic treatment of exactly what I am talking about.

PM me, and I’ll see what I can do.
 
lax16 said:
I called Home Depot and asked what color outdoor lighting they carry. Red, green, blue and yellow. He said all Home Depots carry the same merchandise.

Orange, indigo and violet must have been on hand. :rolleyes:
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Regular white lights will do. You just need to place color gels in front of them. Ask some one in photography or AV about this. There is also lighting with DMX adapters that can change color on command. Coming up with colored lights from things already in an AV or photography set doesn’t require a lot of additional pieces (sometimes no additional pieces at all).
 
Zoltan_Cobalt said:
I would say that with over 80% of the population claiming to be Christian…the United States is a pretty solid Christian Nation.
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So saying “the USA is a Christian Nation” is only a statement of religious demographics?
 
Windfish said:
Somehow, this thread has been picked up by other internet forums, and the comments in this thread are being mocked. Some of them, rightfully so. Please watch what you say. …
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That and pray…

I watched a YouTube video that someone posted recently here on CAF about violent attacks on peaceful folks who were demonstrating in support of marriage. Those on the other side who supported homosexual “marriage” were so quickly enraged, violent and hateful (and found it acceptable to physically attack people just standing holding signs), I found myself thinking about demonic influence. It was frightening to watch.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
 
I think I’ve heard there are some counties who are sidestepping this issue altogether and not issuing marriage licenses, period, not to opposite sex or same sex couples.
 
Windfish said:
Somehow, this thread has been picked up by other internet forums, and the comments in this thread are being mocked. Some of them, rightfully so. Please watch what you say.

btw, hi GAF. 😛 I know we’re far apart on this issue (and many others, haha), but I would just like to say that maybe we can reach an understanding of sorts through clear and charitable dialogue. The key to understanding why there is so much disconnect between us is that there is a fundamental difference in our philosophical paradigms, and this affects everything to our moral reasoning, our political reasoning, and even our views about reason itself! This might come as a surprise, but the fact that we’re Catholic and you’re not is merely incidental. The real reason why we have difficulty getting across our views is that we simply do not have any philosophical points of reference in common.

A book that I would like to recommend, and can provide to you if requested, is The Last Superstition by Edward Feser. It’s a polemic against New Atheism, yes, but it is a fantastic treatment of exactly what I am talking about.

PM me, and I’ll see what I can do.
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What other sites? I know one that had a topic like this one.
 
SwizzleStick said:
That and pray…

I watched a YouTube video that someone posted recently here on CAF about violent attacks on peaceful folks who were demonstrating in support of marriage. Those on the other side who supported homosexual “marriage” were so quickly enraged, violent and hateful (and found it acceptable to physically attack people just standing holding signs), I found myself thinking about demonic influence. It was frightening to watch.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
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That is only one group of people who attacked them. Not every single person who belives in another thing is like that.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
Regular white lights will do. You just need to place color gels in front of them. Ask some one in photography or AV about this. There is also lighting with DMX adapters that can change color on command. Coming up with colored lights from things already in an AV or photography set doesn’t require a lot of additional pieces (sometimes no additional pieces at all).
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Yes, I am sure this is so. If you had read through all of my posts you would know I was objecting to the post that said there was no pre planning involved on the part of the White House staff and that they went down to Home Depot and bought the colored lights needed for the rainbow display.
 
EasterJoy said:
We cannot be so busy defending the truth, as important as that is, or weeping for our nation, as understandable as that is, that we forget to evangelize.

Consider the situation between Our Lord and the Samaritan woman at the well. Read the dialogue. He didn’t agree with a thing she said. He didn’t approve of her living situation. Yet he was unfailingly kind to her and treated her with dignity. When he told the story of the Prodigal Son, the father in the story did not go chasing after his son, but he was always on the lookout for the son to return. He wanted the son who had remained in the fields to welcome the family member that had literally squandered half of the family fortune.

One of the things the progressives like to talk about that is right on the button is seeking the third way. It is turning the other cheek, rather than running or fighting. It is going the extra mile and yet still answering unfair condemnation with “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” (John 18:23)

Like Roe v. Wade, the Obergefell v. Hodges decision is going to challenge Christians to find the third way–that is, to neither capitulate to a false re-definition of what is right and what is wrong and yet not letting the decision sway them from going out into the world speaking the truth with compassion and mercy. We can’t let the wrongness of this decision goad us into an uncharitable stance towards those who are wrongheaded or who have been misguided on this subject. We have to remain faithful to the Gospel, and the Gospel demands both that we speak the truth and that we treat fellow sinners in a way that is in their eternal best interest and our own.

We weren’t sent into this world or called to baptism to lie in the shade on a bed of violets. We labor in a vale of tears. The vineyard can be hot and dusty and the work is real work. Yet those of us called to work are in a better way than those who wait in the square with no employment. We are not slaves in the vineyard we work, but sons and daughters doing work that will uncover in each of us the image of our Father that we were fashioned to glorify forever.
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:clapping: Well put!
 
I believe that if the Catholic hierarchy and other advocates of traditional marriage had expressed a willingness for a separation between civil and religious marriage, we may not be seeing this current situation.

I, personally have no problem with same-sex civil unions and I wish that that was the situation we found ourselves in now.
 
SilverLight said:
That is only one group of people who attacked them. Not every single person who belives in another thing is like that.
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Of course not. But, seems to me that many, many who preach tolerance today know absolutely nothing about what tolerance means.

I noticed a t-shirt that my son put on this morning. Perhaps God was telling me something there :). I’ll offer the quote from my son’s shirt here to perhaps support and comfort, to aid strength and resolve for faithful Catholics to stand firm in our Faith while supporting the teachings of Holy Mother Church when speaking His Truth in charity.

Keep alert.
Stand firm in your faith.
Be courageous.
Be strong.
Let all you do be done in love.
1 Corinthians 16:13
On the other hand, the Mirriam-Webster word of the day is: apprehension: “comprehension or the fear of future evil” 😃

Yes, I’m trying to use humor to placate myself. Not sure it will work, though. But, we are called to hope and trust in God. He is our help and our salvation.
 
ringil said:
I believe that if the Catholic hierarchy and other advocates of traditional marriage had expressed a willingness for a separation between civil and religious marriage, we may not be seeing this current situation.

I, personally have no problem with same-sex civil unions and I wish that that was the situation we found ourselves in now.
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The Church and Christians should never encourage or condone others in sin.
 
Path_Finder said:
I think I’ve heard there are some counties who are sidestepping this issue altogether and not issuing marriage licenses, period, not to opposite sex or same sex couples.
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Hey, it’s a possibility.

What is Civil marriage anyways nowadays? Just some goofy contract between two or three or however many individuals of any sex… 🤷
 
ringil said:
I believe that if the Catholic hierarchy and other advocates of traditional marriage had expressed a willingness for a separation between civil and religious marriage, we may not be seeing this current situation.

I, personally have no problem with same-sex civil unions and I wish that that was the situation we found ourselves in now.
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Yes, I agree. For me the marriage part is what causes the most disruption for the rest of us - in terms of laws about equality affecting churches and invdividuals, etc., adoption of kids, etc. Gay marriage takes the molehill of civil unions and turns it into a mountain.

But the last day or so, I’ve thought about this scenario: this gay rights victory was brought on by the courts, no? Remember when we had busing and affirmative action. That so soured black/white relations, my God. Government enforced equality. We are free of that now. To me this feels a lot like affirmative action - more than any sort of civil rights victory. I mean Catholics always did respect the dignity of gays; it’s mandatory in our faith, right. My point is that affirmative action did more harm to blacks than whites. It was embarrassing as much as anything. Forced “acceptance” just doesn’t work. :o And we are about to learn that sad little lesson again. I anticipate a pretty quick deflation of spirits on this one - ironically on both sides as we play out our new roles.
 
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