Through the experiences of a young man who returned home after recklessly squandering his inheritance, the parable of the prodigal son teaches us that the love of a parent is never out of fashion, is never passé. I believe this biblical story is particularly relevant to the public debate about our common understanding of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Perhaps the reason that the prodigal’s story is so central to Christian faith is that the nature of God’s love is dramatically revealed in the father’s immediate, unconditional and merciful embrace of his lost son. This love is the love that all Christian people are called to and must model toward others.

Considering the warm welcome he received on returning home, we might wonder how it was that the young man came to reject the father’s love in the first place. We cannot say with certainty, but we know that even when it is exercised with care and concern, sons and daughters often chafe at their parents’ rules, expectations and authority.

The Gift of Marriage
In a real-life parable unfolding before us today, our contemporary culture is in danger of losing the rich inheritance that is the great gift of marriage. Although the common understanding of marriage as a union between a man and a woman is founded on love and essential to the common good, many people today strain against its loving limits and seek to cast off its virtually timeless and universal design.

As I said in my pastoral letter, The Gift of Marriage: A Union Most Sacred, our understanding of this sacrament has deep religious, historical and cultural roots. For us it is much more than a legal agreement.

Confusing to me is how the Catholic Church’s support for the legal definition of marriage as the union between a man and woman has given rise to the accusation that we support discrimination against homosexual persons. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of our teaching and belief that we must attempt to overcome in open and compassionate dialogue with those who disagree with us.

We hold our position because the spouses in the sacrament of matrimony become an integral part of God’s plan for creation, and because the bond between husbands and wives in marriage and their fruitfulness as parents is the essential building block of society.

Support for Marriage
In our teaching, this is a common good that government exists to serve and uphold, and as Archbishop I have called Catholic people to use all appropriate means to support our understanding of marriage.

Nothing in our teaching on marriage suggests discrimination. On the contrary, everything within our understanding of marriage calls us to deeper, self-giving love. A love, as Pope Benedict XVI said in his recent encyclical Deus Caritas Est, that “involves a real discovery of the other.”

Although some voices in the public debate over marriage suggest otherwise, the common understanding of marriage is not out of fashion any more than the love of a parent for their child is out of fashion. Love is never passé, and we believe that even those who do not share our faith can recognize that the unique benefits and responsibilities of marriage extend beyond the spouses.

Marriage as we know it has endured over time and throughout many cultures until the present time because it is an expression of the love that God has for all people. For Christians it is a sacred inheritance that we cannot afford to lose.

Only after experiencing life apart from the father – a life separated from his parent’s love – does the prodigal return with an attitude of acceptance for the father’s love and authority. As our culture shows signs of rejecting the loving gift of marriage, I ask all Catholic people to read my pastoral letter, The Gift of Marriage, and to support marriage for the good of all.

(Reprinted with permission from The Catholic Northwest Progress)