Homily of my First Wedding as an Officiant

Homily for the Wedding of Jessica and Huy

Below is the homily I gave for the marriage of Jessica and Huy. As you read, you will see that I prefer to give a faith based wedding and I truly believe in spiritual love as the key to a successful marriage. Enjoy and please feel free to comment.

If you are Christian, you believe in God as the trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three as one. St Patrick conveyed this concept to the Celts by looking at a shamrock. The shamrock is one thing, but this one thing is actually three parts. Any missing part makes it incomplete. The Father is the Creator, The Son Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is Sanctifier. All together they are God. I have no doubt of that. Love is also similar as that it is one thing that consists of parts. Love, in the sense of marriage is sharing many things. Three important things that we share in a marriage and in love are the sharing of one’s heart, life and soul. Taking things very simplistically is it possible to think of the Father as giving of His heart for us; the Son, giving His life for us, and the Holy Spirit giving us a soul so we can live for eternity? God is love.

Marriage bonds a couple, both legally and spiritually, with a commitment that says, “I love you and want to share the rest of my life with you”. Those of you who have been in love know this feeling. Think for a moment how you felt when you were in love. Those of you, who have been married, think of how you felt inside when you were taking your vows. Think of that love. You know how you felt, but you probably can’t explain what the feeling was inside. I can venture a guess that amid the jitters and butterflies, you felt at peace. There was a tranquility that you were with the one you loved and that your love, up to that point in time, was never any stronger. Huy and Jessica I want you to look at each other right now and remember this feeling you have and never forget what you are feeling right now. Those of you who are with the ones you love, I want you to look into each other’s  eyes and think back on that day of your life when you knew you gave your heart, your life and your soul to the person you are looking at right now and remember those feelings.

In the Apostle Paul’s writings to the Corinthians, he spoke of love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Paul writes more of what love isn’t than of what love is. Often times when we speak of things that are intangible, we speak of what the intangible isn’t, rather than what it is. Love is an intangible thing. You really can’t taste love. You can’t smell life. You can’t see a soul. You can, however, feel a heart, but in the sense giving ones heart to another, it’s as intangible as love, soul and life.  It’s a hard description to tell someone who has no idea what that means.  You are starting a new phase of your life today with the commitment that you love each other, and your love is of trust, sacrifice and vulnerability. You are saying to each other that I love you; I am giving of my heart to you. I am revealing my soul to you. My life is now as much your life as it is mine. The picture of my life now includes you and I trust you with all my heart, soul and life that you will always protect it, trust it. Our life will be filled with hope and together our love will persevere. It is part of the big picture from this day forward.

If you can think of your life as a painting, then this wedding day is just a corner of that painting.  Before you were born it was just a blank canvas, but from that day you were born, the work of art began. Each bit of guidance from your family and friends and all your influences from life has been a stroke of the brush. Decisions that we make whether good or bad are on that canvas. At times we are able to paint over areas and make corrections, yet other times we do things just right and life move to a different part of the painting. This painting comes together and joins your two lives. It’s the blending of colors, the direction of the stroke of the brush. The painting of your life shows your love for each other, it shows your soul, it displays your heart. It forms your life, together. It makes the intangible, tangible in a sense, that it displays how you feel for each other. From this day forward the painting is a new work in progress, an unfinished piece. Every detail is there if you look close enough. Don’t obsess on the details, but take a moment to step back and look at the overall painting. It is perfect.  Most of the time this painting will be a breeze, with your lives together running smoothly, but at times there will be challenges. When that happens, remember how you feel right now when you look into each other’s eyes. Bring yourselves back to that corner of the painting that is your wedding day. Look at those small details of the painting; remember this moment and you can put yourself back on track and repaint over that challenge together. Let your love persevere.

Your legacy of the love that you have for each other and that expression of love that others see, will remain long after you are gone from this earth. That is when the painting that is your life will finally be complete. It is then that your friends and children will speak of that love you have for one another to their children and their friends. And they will speak of that same love to their family and friends. How you put your trust in the other’s life, protected the other’s heart, and kept alive the other’s soul; that let your love persevere and withstand the test of time. It is no longer about the paint stroke here or the color choice there. It’s about the completed painting; The big picture that is your life. This changes that work of art into a completed masterpiece.

Today you both pick up that paint brush, blend those colors and make that commitment and say, “I love you forever and my heart belongs to you.”