“The family is placed at the center of the great struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between love and all that is opposed to love.”
These are words that St. John Paul II wrote in his 1994 Letter to Families (Gratissimam Sane, n. 23). They sum up remarkably well the current crisis of culture.
Two related areas needing particular attention in this crisis, issues that are fundamental to who we are as human persons made in the image and likeness of God, are life and marriage. The U.S. Bishops Conference has wisely turned the attention of Catholics to these issues in recent years through their special Call to Prayer initiative, creating a focused opportunity of prayer, education, and action to help all of us take seriously our call to transform the culture and foster the restoration of reverence for life and love that, if lived, can truly change the world.
While many factors point to the erosion of central fundamental goods necessary for human flourishing, there are several that stand out as major causes: the legalization of abortion, a disturbingly pervasive contraceptive mentality, attempts to “re-define” marriage, and the assaults on our religious freedom. These issues are certainly intertwined and they all have far-reaching destructive consequences. They are all violations of love. At the heart of all this we find the desolation of a world that doesn’t know God.
In his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II, poses two basic questions: who am I? andhow am I supposed to live my life in a way that brings true happiness? Just a few generations ago we knew how to answer those questions. We lived in a Judeo-Christian culture where the family was seen as the cornerstone of society. Family was clearly understood as a married father and mother and any children with whom God blessed them. Fidelity and life-long commitment were a given. Today, this reality has been deeply wounded by the sin and brokenness of a culture of death, made manifest in 50% of marriages ending in divorce, the incidence of premarital sex, cohabitation, and contraception growing to epidemic proportions, 41% of births occurring out of wedlock, and 1.3 million lives lost to abortion each year.
The disintegration of a fundamental understanding of marriage as a life-long, indissoluble union of one man and one woman, for the dual purpose of the mutual good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children, has turned our world upside down.
There is a reason why the Church upholds marriage as something to be revered. Marriage is an essential part of God’s plan for human flourishing, and understanding and living the reality of this sacred bond is vital for the health of society. It is in this one-flesh union of man and woman where the love of our Triune God can explode into new life. This life and love can transform the world, if we let it.
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