BACKGROUND: On May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage and this took effect last June 16, 2008.  California is the 2^nd U.S. State, after Massachusetts, to make marriage licenses available to same-sex couples.  Recently, proposals have been put forth in New York to also recognize "same-sex marriage," a move that could start a domino effect in other States to also pass a similar bill.  The State's acceptance of "same-sex marriage" as a valid civil union is a radical step that removes from marriage its most basic, fundamental characteristic, thereby altering its very essence.

Squarely anchored on the above Philosophy and Core Value on Marriage and the Family, We, members of Couples for Christ-USA (affiliated with CFC-FFL), totally committed to defend and protect Family and Life declare that:

 This is God's purpose and plan which He inscribed and reveals in the theology of the body of every man and woman.

WE cannot and will not stand for the re-definition and distortion of Marriage contrary to that which God, its Creator and Author, deigned it to be. 

WE will support any and all efforts to correct this re-definition of Marriage as instituted by the states of Massachusetts and California. (For those in California, we urge that you VOTE IN FAVOR OF Proposition 8, also known as the Limit on Marriage Amendment or the California Marriage Protection Act, which is an initiative measure proposed for the 2008 California General Election ballot that, if passed, would amend California State Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.)

WE will strive to reach out to our own family and circle of friends that this truth of God's purpose and plan for family and marriage may take root in their hearts and manifest in their lives for the benefit of others.

WE will continue to preserve our very own marriages and families that they will reflect God's purpose and plan, believing that His plan of salvation passes through the family.

WE call on our state governments to reject attempts to alter the sacred institution of marriage. We strongly encourage all Catholics and everyone who believes in the sanctity of marriage to make their voices heard on this compelling moral and social issue that beset us today.

In all of these, we will continue to treat our homosexual brothers and sisters in Christ with dignity, as afforded a child of God, and recognize that we must love the sinner but not the sin.

 

Lord, we thank You for the life You have given us – for our very own fathers and mothers who were open to be used for this purpose.  For those of us who are fathers and mothers, we thank You for the precious gift of family that You have given us – for allowing us to bear the fruit(s) of our love for each other – for giving us a family comprised of father, mother, and children.  We praise You and thank You for this visible sign You instituted for us to better see Your plan of salvation in the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony.  Thank You for revealing this truth to us.

In fulfillment of our baptismal promises, we reject anything that is contrary to Your will.  We pray that the difficulties we now face, with our embattled moral and spiritual culture, will give rise to the rebirth of a culture of life in Your own appointed time.

We lift up our own families to You that it will reflect brightly to others as an example of what a Godly family should be and in response to Your call to us of raising other families for Christ, we will continue to reach out to others in our evangelization efforts.

Dear Mama Mary - Bride, Wife, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven and Earth, may we learn from your example. Pray for us sinners now and forever, in Jesus' name. Amen.