Homily for Christine and Michael’s Wedding [05/28/2016]
Christine and Michael, thank you for the privilege of sharing some pastoral thoughts with you as you proclaim your love for each other and ask God to be an integral part of your marriage.
Let me share this Ziggy Comic with you.
“What matters most are the Loved ones we meet along the way…who make the journey with us
Christine and Michael today you are embarking on a most precious, rewarding, and precarious journey
MARRIED LIFE. Each of us here wants your marriage to succeed and friendship to grow and we pray that—that will happen. But I must caution you that our culture and our world do not care and will not support your marriage. The world thinks about marriage as a contract or a convenience while (we) the Church, celebrate marriage as a sacrament and a covenant. Some would argue that we differ in semantics, but God’s grace flows from the sacrament you give to each other today.
We, gathered here, admire your willingness to give fully and selflessly one to the other; your belief in God, Marriage and each other brings you to this holy place. In the reading from Tobit, we learn of the need to pray together every day, to ask God for help and guidance. My hope & prayer for (you) Michael and (you)
Christine is that you learn to make your marriage like a dance because, “Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a
long, intricate, intimate dance together & nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.” Christine and Michael - have chosen well. St. Paul tells us that Love is: “patient, kind, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
The closer you are to Jesus, His sacraments and to each other the more likely you will be a married couple filled with joy, giving witness to God’s love. Pope Francis said, “The sacrament of marriage is a great act of faith and love, [it] requires courage to step beyond one’s self.
The Christian vocation to love unconditionally … with the grace of Christ, is the basis of the free consent which makes marriage…” [Pope Francis, General Audience, article by Deborah Castellano Lubov]
In Mark’s Gospel Jesus tells us that you are joined together in His love. Jesus joins you together today and urges both of you to keep Him in your marriage –- if you do that you will remain in God's love and in love with each other. Today Jesus the Son of God – fully human and fully divine; His SPECIAL PRESENCE in the Eucharist joins us here.
Victor Hugo wrote, “To love another is to see the face of God.” Today we witness you seeing the face of God in each other; what a blessing. May that be true each day of your married life. Remember that God is the oxygen of your Marriage, without Him the flame in your relationship will die. With the Lord your love will brighten our world.
“The measure of love is to love without measure.”
That is your challenge!
“Happiness is being married to your best friend.”
That is your goal!
To meet your challenge and achieve your goal----Stay close to Jesus and practice the “Beatitudes of Married Couples.”
BLESSED ARE MARRIED COUPLES:
1. Who comfort each other,
2. Who listen to each other,
3. Who respect each other,
4. Who cherish their union,
5. Who love each other.
I pray that you keep Jesus in the center of your marriage, I will pray for you every day; May God Be Praised!
St. Joseph pray for us.
St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.
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