Celtic Kyrie

As Christ loved us...

Tonight I'll be officiating at a friend's wedding.

I love weddings. It's one of those times when you really get to share in the joy of others as they are entering in to a new chapter of their lives.

I've done numerous weddings over the years-- so many, I've lost count long ago. At every wedding I've done, I've used the same Gospel reading... and given basically the same homily... since I think it's one of the most powerful messages contained in the Gospel.

John 13:34.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another."

The command given-- so appropriate for a couple getting married... is to love one another as Christ loved us. And how did He love us? He loved us so much that He gave everything He was, everything He is, for us. He lay down His very life for us... not just in His death on the cross, but in His everyday life of living as an example for us.

And we are to then live in the light of that. We are to lay down our lives for one another... not just in some grand gesture, but in the day to day interactions we have with one another.

Agnus Dei

Hatch 'em, Match 'em, Dispatch 'em...

One thing that you learn early on in seminary is that there are three times in the lives of individuals when you will be called on the most: Births, marriages, and deaths. And this week has had all three.

Early Tuesday morning, there was a death, with the services Wednesday night and Thursday. Tuesday was a birth. And tonight (Friday) is a rehearsal for a wedding tomorrow. A very busy week all in all.

One of the things about these three events is that they cause people to assess their lives... to look at how events and decisions made affect both now and eternity. There's something about these major events that really cause us to take notice of what truly is important.

But why do we have to wait for some major life event to stop and take stock of our life-- and more importantly our relationship with Christ? Why not stop periodically and do a little bit of what my grandmother calls "soul searching"? Allow the Holy Spirit to remind us of what truly is important-- and help us lay aside those things that are holding us back from truly knowing Christ.

Celtic Gloria