In the final days of this calendar year, we celebrated a wedding today. Here are the thoughts I offered to the newly-wed couple, inspired by the word of God that was proclaimed during the celebration of their nuptial gathering.
Wedding homily for
James Yantha and Jennifer Mills
James, Jennifer, I have good news for you: all the
details you’ve been worrying about have now been taken care of. Just for a moment, I want you to take a
breath, be still, and allow yourselves to realize that this is your wedding
day. Today is a very important day for
both of you because in a few moments, you will speak words to each other that
will change you forever. If that thought
scares you, please don’t be alarmed.
You’re about to take another step in your life’s journey, and we are
thankful that you have chosen to take this step along with your family and
friends who are here with you today.
Members of this faith community of Saint Peter the Apostle are also
praying for you today: praying that God will bless you with many happy years to
spend together in love with each other.
You have chosen to exchange your vows in this church, and
therefore this is also an act of faith for you: an act that expresses your
belief that God is present in this moment.
In fact, it is God who first loved each of us, and because we have
experienced his love for us, we are able to love others. When a husband and wife ask for the blessing
of the Church upon their marriage, they are also committing themselves to being
living examples of love. Each day of
your lives will be another opportunity for you to show your family and friends,
your colleagues and everyone you meet how much you love one another, how much
you love others, how much God’s love fills your hearts with joy. Saint Paul gives us an easy way to keep tabs
on whether or not we are acting and speaking in love. He says: If
I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (cf 1 Cor 13:1) – making lots of noise but
not a lot of sense.
You have come to the Church because God has brought you
together. From this day onward, every
time you look into your husband’s eyes, every time you look into your wife’s
face, let your first response be love.
Love changes as we mature in life.
At first, it fills us with giddy laughter, but as it matures, it brings
a deeper, richer sense of calm and commitment.
Like the wisdom of the Book of the Song of Songs, love finds a way to be
set like a permanent seal upon our hearts
and we in turn discover that it is
stronger than any trial that we may have to face.
The gospel passage you chose for this celebration places
us in the intimacy of a moment that was shared between Jesus and his disciples:
people he loved very much. He was
speaking to them about the gift of love, and about how he himself had learned
to love because he had experienced the love of the Father (cf Jn 15:9). Many people in the world around us think that
the secret to success is somehow tied to material wealth; according to that
line of thinking, there is little if any place at all for love, but Jesus
reassures us that love is the key to finding true joy: I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that
your joy may be complete (Jn 15:11).
Welcome the gift of love that is offered to you
today. Look for it every day of your
lives. It will be present wherever you
find patience, kindness and truth (1 Cor 13:4-6), and should you ever encounter
envy, pride, arrogance, irritability, resentfulness or even rudeness, pray for
the great grace to overcome these temptations.
Jesus will always be close, ready to show you the way of love, and
through you to show others how to love as well.
Thank you for the example of your love and your commitment
to one another. I promise to pray for
you every day, from this day onward, so that day after day, you will grow in
love with one another, and so that you will find ways every day to share the
great gift of your love with those you meet.
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