Upon hearing that I had visited the Diocese of Miami recently to talk about natural law and the crisis of marriage, a friend asked “What’s the good news?”
It’s not an easy question. But there is good news.
Although the state and the popular culture have been turning against marriage for a long time, for most of that time people who had retained their moral sanity either didn’t notice or tried to tell themselves it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. One part of the good news is that now they are noticing.
Another part of the good news is that the situation in many Catholic churches, seminaries, and dioceses is getting better. The same friend said “In the eighties things seemed to be gray and indistinct. Now you can see the battle lines. I like it better this way.”
Still another part is that in the long run, the way the culture is going is unsustainable. Members of the babbling professions say we are entering a new stage of human evolution in which families headed by married parents fall by the wayside. This is nonsense. The natural law cannot be destroyed; not even an army of social welfare bureaucrats can replace the natural order of the family. After a few more generations of increasing unhappiness in the name of being happy, people will begin to figure that out.
Of course the previous piece of good news may not seem very good in the here and now. But the most important part of the good news is the Good News. There is always enough grace for the day. Take heart. Be of good cheer.