Title:
“Royal Weddings”
[__01__] Everyone enjoys a good wedding reception,
whether at Cana or the Wilshire Grand …. Cana or the Pleasantdale Chateau.
And,
at the best wedding receptions, we feel
not only comfortable to be among friends but joyful to be illuminated by the
spotlight and flashbulbs of the day. In
this regard, even the quote-unquote “simplest” wedding is a moment of both joy
and luxury.
In
this regard, every wedding is a ROYAL WEDDING, because every nuptial and every
Sacrament of Matrimony in the Church unites both the bride and the groom with
Jesus Christ, King.
[__02__] As they
form a new union, they are also sharing in the royalty, the royal identity of
the Gospel.
Alert
the media.
With
or without a carriage and horses, every wedding is a royal wedding, one which
unites the bride and bridegroom, their
brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers in one
ROYAL FAMILY.
[__03__] Thus, no wedding, certainly not a royal
wedding should run out of wine or run
out of anything.
The
shortage of wine, however, is
particularly perilous because this drought of Chardonnay/Cabernet signals an
end to the toasts, to the meal.
What
impression would this leave upon the
guests?
[__04__] Once upon a time.... I attended my college roommate’s wedding
in New York, an affair which certainly broke all the rules for how to control
costs.
In
fact, a different wine was served with every course.
The
soup had a vintage; the salad had its own vintage; the entrée; the dessert .
Did
they save the best until last?
I
was not enough of a connoisseur to discern the gradations up or down in the
nose, the body, the legs or the other personifying terms that wine critics use
as though the wine could speak for itself or jump off the table.
However,
based on the New York address of the hotel, the band, this was an affair with a
high price tag. Certainly, the bride and groom attempted to give their very
best – and their parents’ very best savings – in the cuisine and
atmosphere enjoyed by the guests.
Royalty
and royal weddings make impressions, years later. That wedding was in 1995.
Every
wedding is a royal wedding.
[__04.01__] This wedding at Cana is a royal wedding
because of the gift bestowed upon the guests. The best wine was saved until the
last, until the end.
And,
knowing ourselves that this wine
represents the sacrifice of
Christ’s body and blood, the end of his earthly life and the beginning of eternal life, we also see that Christ also saved the best for last.
Christ’s body and blood, the end of his earthly life and the beginning of eternal life, we also see that Christ also saved the best for last.
[__05__] Is this
not the message of the Gospel of
Matrimony, of devotion, of dedication to one’s spouse, to one’s family?
Every
wedding – however imperfect – is a royal
wedding for the bride and groom are united in Jesus Christ the King.
Every
family is a royal family, for we are also united to God the Father of the King,
His Son and to his Advocate for us, the Holy Spirit.
In
this regard, by professing our faith, living our faith, we are called to
sacrifice, to be Temples and Palaces of
the Holy Spirit and also to be ambassadors of God’s mercy.
In
this regard, we are in his dwelling place always. And, as we read in Psalm 84, “one day within your courts is
better than a thousand elsewhere.” (Psalm 84:10)
[__06__] Every
family is a royal family, and as we see in Buckingham Palace and
….
As we see in London or
Tokyo, one can always marry into a
royal family…but we cannot marry out.
By
the sacramental life of the Church, we
remain part of God’s wedding celebration.
[__07__] Last
week, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar/retreat for pastors in
Baltimore, January 4th through
the 8th at St. Mary’s
Seminary in Baltimore.
This
program was designed for priests and
pastors to learn about the role we play not only in the visibility of
administration but also in the identity of our leadership. This invites us also
to faith and confidence in God.
We
also have to walk by faith and not by sight, as St. Paul writes. (2 Corinthians 5:7).
One
impression made upon me was the reminder of ROYALTY.
That
is, all of us are part of the royal family of faith. In the traditional
teaching of the Church, we say this because
we are the Body of Christ and
because Jesus comes to as PRIEST, as PROPHET, and as KING.
Does
this mean that I am your king? Did I miss something in my years
of study at the seminary? Or …in
my first assignment here with Monsignor Joe Petrillo, did he mention this?
What
does it mean to be a KING and to imitate
Christ as a Catholic?
Coincidentally,
the speaker in this particular session was Father Paul Holmes who also grew up in our parish of
Lourdes and was ordained a priest in 1981 at this altar.
What Father Paul Holmes was trying to communicate was that ROYALTY, KINGSHIP is not about
·
Possession
·
Power
·
Palaces
·
Taxation
·
Horse-drawn carriages
What
a king and royal person and Christian and priest and religious sister or
brother can do is carry out God’s mercy.
Kings
are asked to be merciful, are they not?
To be a king, to imitate Christ,
is to be merciful.
Mercy
does not mean that we always tell everyone what they want to hear or give
everyone what they want to experience.
Kings
do not worry about popularity.
Mercy
does not mean that we have all the answers immediately.
Kings
are asked to see the big picture.
However,
kings are asked to recognize that there may be a need… a genuine need.
The
couple at Cana had no wine. Their volume
was at ZERO milliliters, ounces, gallons. “They have no wine.” Mercy
means, at times, that we strive to create something out of nothing.
To
forgive another person who has hurt us… we create something by our love out
of nothing.
To
admit our fault our sins in humility and to grow and be reconciled, we permit
the Holy Spirit to create something out
of our brokenness.
Jesus our Savior creates wine from water, wine from
nothing.
And,
we - as members of his royal family – are we not also called to forgive,
to be generous, to admit our faults and frailty and receive what he has poured out – his Body and Blood in
Holy Communion. This
is what kings do. What we can do. We save the best for last, the best wine until now.
“Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,and his disciples began to believe in him.” (John 2:11) [__fin__]
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