Over the weekend I had the great honor of attending one of my high school friend's wedding. The wedding was in Ft. Worth, TX, at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The theme of commitment to love that I witnessed over the weekend is what I will reflect on here today. This weekend provided me with an encouraged sense of community and togetherness. Upon arriving at the church, I realized that I did not know many people in attendance. I wondered how awkward I might feel at the reception standing around in the midst of strangers. However, these awkward feelings soon changed to feelings of camaraderie as the bartenders poured the drinks, the chefs served the food, and the band performed the music. As the reception continued to blossom into the joyous occasion that even Jesus would have been proud to attend (remember, we did just hear Jesus turn water into wine at a wedding in Cana in the gospel last week), I once again recognized that when people come together through shared purposes of love and joy, friendships and communities form almost instantly.
One of the best symbols of loving communities forming quickly came during the "married couples" dance. This dance brought all of the married couples in attendance onto the dance floor. The wedding announcer then asked for couples to step off of the dance floor if they have been married less then a certain amount of time. By the end of the song, those of us not on the dance floor had the honor of seeing the power of love and commitment shine right before our eyes. At this particular reception, the announcer left the final three couples on the dance floor because they were all upwards of 50 years of marriage. What a beautiful display of the sacred bond of love! Sadly, we live in a society that seems to tell people that if your marriage isn't as fun as your wedding at all times, then you better get out of it. How ridiculous! This is where we need to look at these couples in their lasting relationships in light of our faith and realize that the love God calls us to is one of joy and pain. As a single guy, I tread lightly on this topic and gladly acknowledge my lack of experience in the marriage category. However, I am blessed to have had great examples in my family of lasting loving marriages. I'm proud to say that my parents will be married 33 years in August (I love you Mom and Dad)! Also, I believe that our faith in God and in one another also teaches us the comforts and the demands that come from trying to emanate the love of God.
Part of trying to live a life that reflects the love of God means committing oneself to that cause just like the commitment of married couples. For me, part of this commitment comes in the form of weekly mass attendance. Now, my Catholic readers out there know that if a wedding is on a Saturday it only counts toward our Sunday mass if it is after 4:00 p.m. Well, the wedding this weekend was at 2:00 p.m. (meaning that I would still need to go on Sunday to fully honor my faith commitment). Since I did not catch a morning mass before flying back to Georgia, I knew the odds that I would make mass in time for the evening were against me. By the time I got back to Athens, I was able to make it into mass during the Offertory. Though, I felt bad for being that late, I was glad to be there with my faith community anyway. As I proceeded to participate in the rest of mass, I couldn't help but feel a void in me since I missed the Liturgy of the Word (scripture readings). After mass, I reflected more on this void. Our faith teaches us that in the mass we receive Christ in three ways: through the Word of God (John 1:1), through Holy Communion (Luke 22:19), and through the gathering of each other as The Body of Christ (1 Corinth. 12: 12-30). While we believe that receiving any one of these provides us with the full nourishment of Christ, we recognize that the fullness we experience when all three come together as one is something even more transcendent. Our steady commitment to love will continue to help this transcendence.
We can continue to become more transcendent beings if we can challenge ourselves to find the voids in our lives and fill them with things that bring us to the love of God. Ideally, we would find these things in the scriptures, in the Eucharist, and in gathering with each other. If I can find a sense of these things from being at my friend's wedding this weekend, then I know we can all sense these things in whatever situations we find ourselves each day.
Congratulations, Robbie and Laura!
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
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