Remain in his love

Here is the text of the homily I prepared for the wedding which was celebrated in our parish this weekend: a reflection on the divine gift of love and its power to help us live lives of praise and thanksgiving.

Wedding homily for Mark Cosgrove and Stacy Turcotte

Stacey and Mark, you have come into this church today in order to speak words to each other which will join you and your families in an unbreakable bond.  These words that you will speak won’t take very long to utter, but neither should their meaning be taken lightly.

The words: I love you, are sometimes uttered frivolously by some in our modern-day society, but they have a special meaning when they are uttered between a husband and wife. The true meaning of these simple words is only revealed with time, with patience and through shared experience.  The words: I love you, imply a certain understanding between the people who exchange them, a certain depth of knowledge which is shared when two people have come to know each other so well that they discover a progression from simple attraction to an understanding that one of you completes the other.

It’s interesting that Jesus uses the word love to describe the relationship between himself and his disciples: the people who he himself had chosen and called to follow him.  These were the ones who he had molded and taught.  Over the period of time they lived in each other’s company, they had no doubt developed a bond of friendship, a depth of concern and care for one another, even a love for one another.  Throughout the centuries which have passed since that time, Jesus has continued to call others to himself.  On the day when each of you was baptized, he welcomed you among his beloved.  From that day until this one, he as been present to you, at times when you were aware of it, and more importantly at times when you may have felt distant or alone.  Today, he unites the two of you in a special bond of love, and invites you always to remain in his love and in love with each other.

Christ’s love for us is not like the passing fancies of this world.  Some in our world spend their lives chasing after happiness, but seek happiness in the tangible and visible realities of this world alone.  The problem with this quest is that no earthly reality will ultimately be enough to satisfy our longing for love.  Only God’s love has the ability to take away our hunger for love.  In the union of a husband and wife, God gives visible and tangible signs of his love and devotion to us, so from this day forward, cherish the gift of your husband, cherish the gift of your wife, as a heaven-sent gift especially prepared for you.  Together, you will be able to face every tomorrow with hope and with the knowledge that someone is always ready to sing a love song not unlike the song which is chanted in the first reading you chose for today’s celebration.  Strive every day of your lives to echo this love song in the words you utter to each other, in the acts of kindness you reserve for one another and in the generosity with which you welcome friends, relatives and strangers who knock at your door.  Sometimes these will be seeking help; be willing always to share with them the warmth of love; sometimes they will be ready to share counsel and guidance; be always ready to greet such advice with gratitude.

In this way, you will be living signs of God’s love, of the new heaven and the new earth which God prepares for his beloved: a place where tears are wiped away tenderly from the cheeks of those who are broken and downtrodden, a place where special water from the well of life is freely offered to all those who thirst for justice, love and peace.