Recently I was at a wonderful, beautiful wedding with some of the people I find most dear in the world. You, our dear readers, might recognize the groom as the one who writes some of these posts. This wedding week and weekend was filled with everything you’d want: sunshine, friends, good food, great conversations, classic jokes, reunions of people who had been apart for far too long, and everything else you might think of when you think of a wedding. I think for many of us, the most joyful memories we have of the summers involve weddings. Now, I know weddings aren’t always in the summer, but since this is “wedding season”, as it were, I think many of us probably relate the experience of attending a wedding to the experience of summer. You jump in a car or plane on a hot summer day and travel to this place where you are reunited with old friends. You go to Target or Bed Bath’N Beyond or something like that and pick something up off the registry. You get dressed up even though it’s hot and the multi-layered suit is going to equal intense sweat. You go to a beautiful ceremony and then find your way to a beautifully decorated hall for a fancy dinner and a few hours of dancing and celebrations. The next day you wake up, get to Mass, and make the journey back home. It is a whirlwind of all kinds of emotion and activity. If you’re like me, you’re slightly exhausted just thinking about the craziness of the week of a wedding (or I might still be tired from just leaving one, but either way…). In the midst of it all, though, I found myself thinking about what was really important for us as Catholics in all of this. I mean, of course the celebration, the time with friends, dancing, some good food and beverages with friends-it’s all important. But why do all of this for the celebration of one sacrament? I mean, Confirmation and Baptism are sacraments you receive only once, why not have a week-long celebration and a 300 person sit-down dinner with tuxedos and dresses and open bars and djs and slide shows for those? I think the answer is summed up by a quote from Blessed (soon to be saint! Now that’s worth a celebration…) John Paul II, when he said: “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” What JPII says here is so important, and it is the reason the wedding celebration is so joyful. When a man and a woman come together before the Lord and the world and state that they are going to promise themselves to each other freely, fully, faithfully, and fruitfully (babies!) for life, they are stating that they want to participate in this battle for the modern world. They want to start, they are promising, a family. A husband and wife promise that their family, no matter how big or small, will help to lead the course of the nation and the whole world to Him. In a world which so highly disrespects marriage, this is of the utmost importance. When we were out with my friend for his bachelor party, he was given one piece of advice after another (from strangers, might I add) which sounded like this: “Don’t do it. I was married for a while, and I think it’s dumb. Run while you still can.” For him and his wife, then, when they are entering into marriage in a world that sees their lifelong commitment to one person as an outdated idea, it is even more important to seek God’s will, allowing their family to lead the nation and the world back to our God. For all of us in attendance, it is just as important for us to be men and women of prayer to support the newly married couple, and in doing so act as warriors for the love of God which is shown in such a special way in marriage. Weddings are so much fun. Enjoy any of them you’re going to this summer, this fall or this winter. Have a good time with friends and family, dance until your feet hurt, buy that food processor the couple registered for. Do all of it, but don’t forget why we’re there. All of the guests are there to support a sacrament, not just a big old party. I’d love to hear from you-what are some of the things that you have done or seen done at weddings which helped keep the focus in the right place? Leave us some comments and let’s get a conversation going about how we can use good, holy, Catholic weddings to win the culture war. Jason Theobald Lighthouse Catholic Youth Blog
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:33:47 +0000
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