This coming Sunday will be an occasion for a great celebration!  At our regular 10am service of worship, Maggie DeSmet and Nick Howe will be married.  Now, I realize that scheduling a wedding in the time slot of a regular Sunday service of worship is unusual.  I recognize that some who come to worship expecting an ordinary Sunday church experience may even feel as if they have unwittingly crashed a wedding!  But what I fail to understand is why.

You see, the Church celebrates any number of special events throughout the year.  Usually these events are directly associated with the life of Jesus.  At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus; on Easter we celebrate his resurrection from the dead; in early January, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism.  The Church, however, also celebrates events that are associated with the Holy Spirit.  Pentecost, of course, celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, and less directly, on All Saints’ Day, we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Jesus’ followers.

That is why I believe that there are few occasions more appropriate to celebrate on a Sunday morning than that of Holy Matrimony.  You see, the union of two people who have found love and who wish to live that love in the midst of a community of faith is the work of the Holy Spirit.  That work of the Holy Spirit should be recognized, held up and celebrated.  Just as Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection witness to the love of God, so too, the commitment of two people who love each other and are committed to allowing their love to spill out into the world is a testament to the same love of God.

So, this Sunday, I sincerely hope that you will join me and many others in the St. John’s community as we gather around Maggie and Nick as they pledge their love for each other. And because their love is truly the work of the Holy Spirit, may we all, when asked whether “we will do all in our power to uphold and honor this couple in the covenant they make,” respond with voice and heart, “We will!”

~Father Art