Some thoughts about love

Here is the text of the homily I prepared for the wedding liturgy we celebrated earlier today.

Wedding homily for Jeffrey King and Meagan Coulombe

Two people have come into this church today.  They have invited us to be here with them in order to witness the moment when they will stand before all of us, and before God, and speak vows to each other that will change the relationship between them forever, but how does it happen that words so quickly spoken can change two people so fundamentally?  We believe that at the moment that a man and woman utter these words aloud to one another, they bind themselves together as husband and wife, and that this bond cannot be separated for any reason whatsoever.   Meagan and Jeff have also chosen to exchange their vows in a church, in the presence of a community of believers, and this too is significant, because our faith tells us that God therefore blesses the love that is shared between this man and this woman.  Just as they promise each other from this day forward to remain faithful to each other, to walk the road of life that stretches before them hand in hand, so God promises to remain with them too, sharing with them the gift of his abiding love and urging them to remain in his love.

The Church also believes that this exchange of love is a sacramental action.  That means that at the moment when Meagan and Jeff exchange their vows, God gives them a gift, an inward gift, the gift of his blessing which strengthens their hearts and fills us with his grace.  This special gift of God is like a spring of water that begins to bubble up inside of those who have received it, feeding us, quenching our thirst for God, helping us to be people of faith, people of joy, people of peace and people of love.

Saint Paul told the newly-baptised Christians in the city of Colossae that the gift they had received made them God’s chosen ones, holy people, beloved of God.  Today, this bride and this groom are here in our presence to declare before all of us that they have witnessed this love in one another, that they have witnessed this love as the special gift given to all of us by our God.  Not only that; they are also here today to assure us that from this day forward they are willing to live in this love, to draw life from this love, to share with the world around them the love that they have discovered.  They will do this by clothing themselves with compassion, kindness and humility toward one another and toward others, by practicing meekness and patience toward strangers as well as friends, by bearing with one another and forgiving each other every day, even before such forgiveness is asked for, because God, in Jesus, chose to forgive us even before we recognized our need for his forgiveness.

Meagan, Jeff, clothe yourselves every day with love.  Love, the precious gift of God will hold you together from this day forward.  It unites all of us with one another and invites us to live as members of God’s family.  The visible proof that love is present is that Christ also gives us his peace, and Christ’s peace has the power to guide us and fill us with joy.  The gifts of love and peace are also nourished and strengthened the more that we listen to the words Christ shared with his disciples; the more we allow these words to change our hearts, the more we invite Jesus to be part of our lives.  Out of love, Jesus’ words also help us to grow in wisdom, in gratitude and in faith.

The first reading chosen for this celebration is taken from the book of the Song of Songs, a love poem of sorts which was composed by one of the ancient writers.  Think of the words of this poem as God’s love song for all of us.  It’s easy to equate the words we have heard with a newly-wed couple, but the deeper meaning is that God sings this love song for all of us, his beloved children.  He calls to us and urges us: set me like a seal on your heart and strive every day to believe the truth that the love you share is stronger than death.  God loves us passionately, more passionately than any of us can love another.  His love for us is unquenchable.  It endures any and every trial that life might throw our way, so rely on his love, just as you rely on each other, and rely on the prayers and love of this community of believers who will remember you and pray for you every day, from this day onward, asking God to shower you with the gifts of his love, his peace and his joy.