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<\/a>I wish I could tell you some words of wisdom from the homily given at my own wedding, 22 years ago. But I can\u2019t. I can\u2019t remember a word of it. Chances are, you won\u2019t remember this one, either. <\/p>\nThere\u2019s something that happens on your wedding day. Your shoes are usually too tight, and it cuts off the circulation to your brain. Amnesia sets in. You get up in the morning, put on your shoes, and the next thing you remember, you have icing on your chin and someone is videotaping you doing the bunny hop. <\/p>\n
But let me share a few thoughts anyway. <\/p>\n
This is a moment of great beauty \u2013 and great meaning. It goes beyond the flowers, the music, the dress. You may find this hard to believe, but the most precious part of this day is even bigger and more elaborate than the party that will come after. <\/p>\n
The best news is: it doesn\u2019t cost anything. It\u2019s probably the only part of today that doesn\u2019t have a fee attached. <\/p>\n
So let me tell you why this day matters so much. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s because this embraces two sentiments that are central to our humanity, central to our faith. <\/p>\n
Love. And hope. <\/p>\n
Human beings are the only creatures on earth who feel these things. We\u2019re the only ones who have the capacity to truly love one another, to cherish one another \u2013 and to hope with one another. And because of that, those two feelings carry a spark of the Divine. It\u2019s God leaving his signature within us. He\u2019s given us the ability to love\u2026and the capacity to hope. It\u2019s one reason, among many, why what we celebrate today is a sacrament \u2013 a sign of God\u2019s grace. <\/p>\n
And it\u2019s why this means so much. <\/p>\n
Because by marrying one another you are saying more than just \u2018I do.\u2019 You are saying \u2018I do love.\u2019 And \u2018I do hope.\u2019 <\/p>\n
You are affirming the mystery of that, and saying that you care for one another\u2026and will care for one another\u2026no matter what. You are saying that you believe that your future together will be brighter because this other person is a part of it. You are saying: we are part of a chain, a story stretching back to the beginnings of time, and we want to continue the story. You are saying that you will continue that story by becoming a family to one another, and welcoming children, and letting God continue His creative work in the world. <\/p>\n
If that isn\u2019t love, and that isn\u2019t hope, I don\u2019t know what is. <\/p>\n
You are expressing with your presence here today something that poets have been trying to put into words for centuries. It\u2019s a small spark \u2013 that spark of the Divine that I mentioned \u2013 a light that you today promise to nurture. A light that you\u2019ll protect from the wind, and the rain, and the cold. In the gospel you just heard Jesus tell us to be the light of the world. You are promising to do that\u2026with your love, with your hope. <\/p>\n
Shortly after he got married, the writer Matthew Lakona, wrote: \u201cI believe marriage is the best chance I have to love my neighbor as myself.\u201d <\/p>\n
Whether you realize it or not, you aren\u2019t just going to be husband and wife. You\u2019re going to be neighbors. Very close neighbors. Remember that. Be good neighbors to each other, as well as good spouses. <\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to say something to the other neighbors in your life \u2013 the friends and relatives who are here today. <\/p>\n
Most of us are familiar with the beautiful words of St. Paul we heard a moment ago \u2013 his clear and eloquent letter about love. We hear that reading often at weddings. But St. Paul wasn\u2019t talking about marriage. He was writing to the Corinthians about how to live together as a community. And so I\u2019d ask all of us here, this community, to take those words to heart, to make of them a prayer — and then to give them back, as a kind of gift, to this couple. <\/p>\n
I\u2019d ask all of us to strive, very simply, to be the very definition of love for this couple. <\/p>\n
To be patient with them. To be kind to them. Rejoice with them. Bear with them. Believe with them. Hope with them. Endure with them. <\/p>\n
This is what Paul asks of the Corinthians \u2013 and, really, it\u2019s what Christ asks of us. If we truly live this way \u2013 with this couple and with one another \u2013 we will give this bride and groom gifts more valuable than any on their registry. They are gifts that won\u2019t tarnish and won\u2019t wear out. Gifts that this couple is already eager to share with one another. But they are things you can never have too much of. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m speaking, of course, of Love. And hope. <\/p>\n
It is my prayer that you will always give those gifts pride of place in your home. And it\u2019s also my prayer that those are gifts that will be returned\u2026again and again. <\/p>\n
If you do that, the spark will spread. The light will grow. And the story will go on.<\/p>\n
Photo: by Don Ptashne, LAPhotoPro<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Tis the season. Wedding season, that is. This Sunday, I’ll be assisting at a wedding mass. Below is my wedding homily. I wish I could tell you some words of wisdom from the homily given at my own wedding, 22 years ago. But I can\u2019t. I can\u2019t remember a word of it. Chances are, you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>I wish I could tell you some words of wisdom from the homily given at my own wedding, 22 years ago. But I can\u2019t. I can\u2019t remember a word of it. Chances are, you won\u2019t remember this one, either. <\/p>\n