In late June the United States Supreme Court issued some hugely important rulings. By now you probably know that the Court struck down state restrictions on marriage between couples of the same gender.

In essence, this redefined union is now, by mandate of the justices of the Supreme Court, viewed in law as the equivalent of the life-long union of a man and a woman, open to the new life that is the future of the human race, the traditional understanding of marriage. The justices in the majority essentially said that they found in the Constitution the rights that make same gender unions equivalent.

The commentary that has followed the decision has swiftly moved to label any statements or beliefs, such as our Catholic teaching that marriage is a unique union of a man and a woman, as bigotry.

Columns and opinion pieces have immediately appeared calling for any opposition, especially religious opposition, to be punished.

A number of commentators are calling for the stripping of the tax exemption that has allowed the Catholic Church and others to live our faith and to contribute to society, especially in the areas of education and care for the poor.

The discussion has largely overlooked or failed to explain why, until very recently, so many of our leaders and politicians, including the president, have always run for office proclaiming their belief in traditional marriage.

What changed? Were they, along with all of society, simply discriminatory and bigoted all the time up until their recent change? For that matter, did the authors of the Constitution endorse hatred and bigotry? Or did they cleverly hide this newly found right in that document, to await our modern day of its discovery?

In a separate decision, that has wide implications, the Court also ruled that clear language in the Affordable Care Act really meant something different than it said as long as it served the hoped for purpose of that bill. The justices ruled that tax subsidies to be granted only through state exchanges could also be granted for a federal exchange.

Taken together, these two decisions combine to attribute to courts the right to creatively interpret the wording of even our most fundamental legal protections if they become inconvenient or unpopular. Legal protections, for example, like religious freedom.

What are we to make of all of this?

First, both our human reason and our faith tell us that we are part of a world that we did not create.

There are fundamental realities of that creation that define who and what we are. One of those realities is our nature as either man or woman. That God made them male and female is a reality that is shared by animals, fish and, yes, human beings.

A second reality is that each one of us comes from the union of male and female. Every child who is born has a right to the connection between the two parents from which he or she has come forth. Since the beginning of time, even before Jesus Himself walked among us, societies have recognized that children are best nurtured and raised by the complementarity of a mother and a father.

Marriage, then, has never been simply the societal recognition of just any human pairing, even if based in deep friendship or love. It has been the institution linked to the issuance of children, our future.

Society has recognized and protected marriage precisely because, even if it at times can be shaky and damaged by, say misunderstandings or even the separation of the husband and wife, no other pairing can serve the same purpose.

From the standpoint of faith, Jesus Himself has told us that, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh ... . Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

These are not the words of bigotry. They are the truth that will set us free.

The Supreme Court decision of last week is a warning to us. There are likely to be deep challenges ahead as secular society tries to intimidate people of faith into compromising the words of Jesus. Legal, financial and personal challenges are likely. Threats against the Church have begun.

But as believers we and our spiritual ancestors have been through this before. We know that faithfulness to Jesus is never easy in any age. But it is in the hour of testing that He is most with us. It is then that we most fully serve as His light for the world.

The current challenge to marriage will be just one more example.

Still, we need to be positive, to be filled with faith. Most of all we need to trust Jesus. His words and His presence will never fail us.