St. Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong
January 22, 2006
My dear friends, in behalf of Sherwin’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Petronio and Silangan Pascual, who came from the Philippines to attend this ceremony, and of Jacqueline’s mother Noriet and step-dad Steve, I would like to welcome you once again to the marriage of Sherwin and Jacqueline.
Sherwin and Jacqueline, the day has now arrived, the day that both of you have been looking forward to and planned for a long time is being fulfilled today in this beautiful basilica. Many of your friends and loved ones are here today to witness and pray with you as you receive the Sacrament of Marriage. Although your family, relatives and friends back home in Norzagaray and Manila can’t be here today, I am sure they are praying and thinking about you at this very moment.
Sherwin and Jacqueline, you have come here today, first of all, because you love each other, both of you have assured me that you wanted to offer yourself freely to each other because of love. As you stand before the altar, you may recall the day you first met in December 2001. And as you stand next to each other, I invite you also to remember how your friendship at pinagsamahan started to grow deeper into love despite a long-distance relationship. You have experienced how difficult it was when the one you love is physically far away from you. Now that you are together, and today, as Jesus says in the Gospel, “(You) are no longer two, but one body” it is our hope that you will continue to nourish and deepen the love you received from God. Make it grow stronger, faithful and fruitful, so that your love becomes an image of Christ’s love to us all humans as it should always be.
Sherwin and Jacqueline, you have come here today to get married in the Church, above all because you want God to be part of your relationship. Christian marriage, my dear friends, is a sacrament; it is not just a social event or dance party we attend at weekends. Marriage as a sacrament means God blesses Sherwin and Jacqueline, as husband and wife, that’s why they are getting married before His altar, rather than in the park or their favorite spot at Geelong beach.
The Sacrament of Marriage in the Catholic Church is permanent, lasting, and forever. The Church is faithful to the words of Christ: “what God has united, no one must divide.” This is the reason why there is no such thing as divorce in the Church. Once you are married it binds you forever until death. The vows you make today are, humanly speaking, not only difficult but impossible to fulfill. So, today, we ask God’s help and protection, as the first reading speaks in your behalf: “may (Yahweh) bring you to old age together.”
Your second reading, St. Paul’s Letter to the Church of Corinth is one of most eloquent descriptions of love that has ever written. St. Paul was speaking in his letter about the gift of love: “Love is patient, and kind, it is not jealous, it is not rude…love does not come to an end.” Sherwin, “love is patient and kind” but Jacqueline can be impatient and can be unkind, or minsan sumpungin. Jacqueline, of course “love is not jealous” but one day Sherwin may get jealous. Yes, “love is not rude” but lovers can be rude without realizing it. And, “love never ends” but since St. Paul have written those words countless lovers have fallen out of love.
How can you avoid those human failings? I’m sure as this day has drawn near, the two of you have received a lot of advice specially from your parents, and certainly before the day is over you will receive a lot more.
What advice I can give you, Sherwin and Jacqueline, is to make God number one in your lives. Make Jesus Christ ALWAYS your first love, because he alone can satisfy our longing, and him alone is the source of true love. Jesus says in the Gospel you have chosen, that when one gets married, he or she “must leave father and mother.” It’s is not always easy to leave ones “father and mother” or “one’s family” and “one’s country” for the sake of love. It’s not easy to start a new beginning, but remember that God is also making a vow before you today. He promises to protect you, and help preserve you marriage and keep your love burning. But this is possible if you make God your first love. Amen.
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