ORDINARY TIME
Catholic san Francisco
Lent — a time for prayer, fasting, and charity
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
By Archbishop William J. Levada
(CNS PHOTO BY CHASE BECKER, SOUTHERN NEBRASKA REGISTER)
Each year the season of Lent offers us a kind of retreat, as we follow the liturgy and devotions of the Church, and read her Scriptures and receive her sacraments. As I write the words of this column, I am preparing for a week-long retreat at El Retiro, the Jesuit retreat center in Los Altos, with the Bishops of the Metropolitan Province of San Francisco, ending just the day before Ash Wednesday. Lent begins with the unforgettable ritual of Ash Wednesday. The Old Testament prophet Jonah proclaimed the Word of God in Nineveh, the great capital city of Assyria. He called the people to repentance for their sins, to conversion of their lives back to God. We are told that the people were so moved by the message of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, that they all covered their bodies with ashes and wore garments made of rough sackcloth to show the depth of their commitment to repent and be converted. They even put their animals in ashes and sackcloth to let God know how sincere they were! The ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday remind us of the “dust of the earth” from which God created us; of the temporary, passing character of our pilgrim journey of life on this earth; of the importance above all that our pilgrimage have as its purpose and goal the God who made us and his divine will. As St. Paul will remind us again in the reading of the Palm Sunday liturgy, as Lent draws to its climax, Christ gave us the example of obedience to his Father’s will, for “he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross!” (Phil 2:9). Ash Wednesday is not the sum total of Lent, however. It is the doorway, inviting us to a 40-day retreat. Here the Church follows the ORDINARY TIME, page 3
Mayor Newsom defies same-sex marriage ban By Jack Smith In defiance of California State law and an overwhelmingly popular voter approved State proposition, the administration of newly installed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has issued nearly 3,000 marriage licenses to couples of the same sex. California family code has always held that marriage consists of a union between one man and one woman. The code also contains criminal penalties for any official licensing a marriage in violation of the code.
In addition to pre-existing California law, the samesex marriage licenses issued by Newsom are in violation of Proposition 22, approved by the voters of California in 2000 by a margin of 61 to 39 per cent. The law created by that proposition read, in total, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The summary of the law provided to voters on the official ballot read, “This measure provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
But Newsom says the California family code and Proposition 22 are unconstitutionally discriminatory. “Less than a month ago I took the oath of office here at City Hall and swore to uphold California’s Constitution,” Newsom said in a statement issued after he directed County Clerk Nancy Alfaro to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Newsom said his move was mandated by the State Constitution’s “equal protection” clause. NEWSOM, page 7
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Marriage battles . . . . . . . . . 6 Young fogeys . . . . . . . . . . 13 Marriage Q & A . . . . . . . . 14 Vatican on same-sex . . . . . 15
News in brief
Gibson speaks on “The Passion”
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February 20, 2004
Eurotrip trashed. . . . . . . . 17
Archbishop’s Annual Appeal Classified ads. . . . . . . . . . 19 ~ Pages 10-11 ~ FIFTY CENTS
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 6
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