Lessons in the art of love

Here is the text of the homily I prepared for the wedding we celebrated today: a moment of new beginning for two people, their families and their friends.

Wedding homily for Christopher Bissonnette and Samantha Point

Samantha and Chris have invited the members of their families and their friends to come to this church today so that you could celebrate this wonderful day with them.  They have invited you to be present on their wedding day because each of you is special to them.  Each of you has a relationship with them.  Some of you have known either Chris or Sam for a very long time.  Some have shared moments of laughter and celebration with them, and others have known more difficult times in their lives.  Some of you may rightly say that you like them, and some of you can actually say that you love them.

Love can be lived in various ways.  The love of friendship is different from the love we have for family, and both of these kinds of love is different from the love that is shared by a husband and a wife.  In the gospel we have just heard, Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.  When Jesus wanted to teach us about love, he came among us to show us how to love.   Only after he had spent some time with his disciples did he ask them to imitate him – to love one another as he had loved them.  We learn this love from the example we see in the relationships that are shared by our parents, our grandparents, other members of our families and even among our friends.  In fact, many would say that if we have had the privilege of witnessing the love that holds a couple together, in love with each other for a lifetime, we are truly among the luckiest, the most blessed.

Cet homme et cette dame se présentent devant nous aujourd’hui au début de leur vie congugale.  Déjà ils ont founi un example du don de l’amour envers leurs amis et leurs enfants.  Dès aujourd’hui, ils donnent également d’example de la vie d’épouses et de leur engagement l’un envers l’autre.
This man and this woman stand before us today, at the beginning of their married life.  They have already begun to model the gift of love for their friends and for the sake of their children; from this day onward, they will continue to do so with the added blessing of living in the world as husband and wife.

As the chosen of the Lord, holy and beloved, you must always strive to clothe yourselves with ardent compassion, goodness, gentleness and patience.  Practice these virtues for the sake of your beloved spouse, and for your children.  Be examples of virtue for the sake of all those who meet you.  You may not realize it, but others will see these gifts within you, they will marvel at them and they may even long to imitate them.  Love, which must always be at the centre of every relationship between a husband and wife will challenge you at times to go beyond your own comfort zone.  It will at times be a very pleasurable experience, but at other times, it will demand much of you.

God invites you today to set his love like a seal upon your heart: a seal that can never be broken, a seal that will bind you together, a seal that will strengthen you when you might be tempted to think that you can’t continue to give of yourself, a seal that will remind you always of his presence in your lives … and how will you know that God is indeed so close to you?  The peace of Christ will reign in your hearts and fill you with joy; the word of God will live within you to enrich your daily experiences, to instruct you in the ways of faith, and to warn you about the dangers that lie ahead.  Listen carefully every day for this word.  It will echo in your hearts and will always guide you toward a deeper understanding and appreciation for God’s love and joy in your lives.