On the Square Today

George Weigel on the future of marriage :

In public policy terms, the Catholic critique of gay marriage reflects the Catholic idea of the just state. Rightly understood, marriage is one of those social institutions that exist “prior” to the state: prior in terms of time (marriage existed before the state), and prior in terms of the deep truths embedded in the human condition. A just state thus recognizes the givenness of marriage and seeks to protect and nurture this basic social institution.

Also today, Samuel D. Rocha on a curriculum of life :

What if your child died at the age of 8 or 10? What would her eulogy be about? Perfect school attendance? What wonderful grades she got? How well-behaved she was in school? No. It would be about her smile, her love, the way she laughed. Sadly, many children who are simply prepared for adulthood—just as adults who merely prepare for retirement—find the time and space of their lives monopolized by what is not most important.