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14 Feb 2010 - Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

We’re hit with a double celebration today: Valentine’s Day and World Marriage Day. The first observance honors romantic love and the second the even more romantic idea of lifelong fidelity. World Marriage Day started locally in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1981 but became a worldwide phenomenon, receiving a papal blessing by 1993. If you Google “World Marriage Day 2010” you’ll find suggestions for involvement: Invite parishioners to display wedding photos in church. Offer a special blessing for couples celebrating 5, 10, 25 years of marriage. Have couples speak about the gifts of married life as a testimony to the assembly. (Play your cards right, and you’ve got your homily!) You’ll want to note, of course, how the prophet Jeremiah contrasts the barren bush and the fruitful tree, one rooted in worldly concerns and the other in God. Marriages are the same as people in that they can only produce from the roots up. Marriages thinly anchored in worldly things—playing house, getting on with life, building up equity, satisfying parental concerns—tend to reap the wind, as another prophecy suggests. But when two people come together in love that is ready to give as well as receive, the fruit of that harvest can be sweet. Jesus deepens the comparison in Luke. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes stand alone as blessings bestowed on the unlikely ones. But Luke’s teaching on the plain adds woes alongside the blessings. In the typically Lucan pattern, balance must be struck, the flip side of the story must be told. If the divine ear is ever open to the cry of the poor, hungry, sorrowing, and persecuted, it is likewise closed to the entreaties of the powerful who remain deaf to the needs of their sisters and brothers. Couples whose marriages are founded in the desire to share the love they have so liberally received will be mindful of the lonely, the un-companioned, the abandoned, and the unloved. Their union will be blessed to the extent that they include others in their love: children certainly, but also the elderly and the needy of every variety. Far from being shortchanged in this generosity, they will find there is even more love to go around when they give their love away. Sometimes couples object, saying “charity begins at home” and that they must utilize all their time and resources in an inward focus on their nuclear family. This tactic teaches our children to be narrow and self-involved rather than offering the challenge of discipleship to the next generation. Our children may not have the latest toy or designer clothes, but they will be blessed by parents who demonstrate by example what love is. Related scripture links Wise as serpents: Matt. 10:16 Don’t build in a wash: Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49 Jesus spars with the devil: Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13 Moths, rust, and other trouble: Matt: 6:19-21; Luke 12:33-34 Catechism links The path of Luke’s Beatitudes: CCC 2401-2449 The path of Matthew’s Beatitudes: CCC 520; 544; 581; 1716-1724; 2305; 2518; 2544-2547

Authors Alice Camille

valentine's day world marriage day Charity beatitudes

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Homily stories

04 Feb 2018 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Remember the little cardboard Valentines with their odd-shaped envelopes? Some had a little clasp that allowed a part of the card to move. We used to be able to buy the cards by the bagful, sometimes paying as little as 50 cents for a hundred of them. Usually in the afternoon on Valentine’s Day, our teacher would open the fancily decorated Valentine’s box that we had all placed our cards in for our classmates. And then there would be a little party which always included those heart-shaped sugar candies with their abbreviated messages like “I LIKE U” or “U R NICE.” We had to wait until all the cards were distributed before we could open any. The students with the most cards were the most popular—how we all hoped that we would be a part of that group. But many of us weren’t popular and felt very alone on a day that was supposed to make us feel loved. In today’s readings, Job is feeling unpopular and pretty much alone. Paul is all by himself, giving up everything for the sake of the gospel, and Simon Peter has been so busy with Jesus, he may have been neglecting his family or at least missing them greatly. Our ability to love or be loved even as God’s children is at best imperfect. It can barely mimic God’s unconditional love for us that takes away our brokenness. With God’s love, it is like having a mountain of Valentine’s Day cards piled high on our desks. Now it becomes up to us to find the ways to share it with others.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

valentine's day god's love popularity valentines

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Homily stories

04 Feb 2018 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Remember the little cardboard Valentines with their odd-shaped envelopes? Some had a little clasp that allowed a part of the card to move. We used to be able to buy the cards by the bagful, sometimes paying as little as 50 cents for a hundred of them. Usually in the afternoon on Valentine’s Day, our teacher would open the fancily decorated Valentine’s box that we had all placed our cards in for our classmates. And then there would be a little party which always included those heart-shaped sugar candies with their abbreviated messages like “I LIKE U” or “U R NICE.” We had to wait until all the cards were distributed before we could open any. The students with the most cards were the most popular—how we all hoped that we would be a part of that group. But many of us weren’t popular and felt very alone on a day that was supposed to make us feel loved. In today’s readings, Job is feeling unpopular and pretty much alone. Paul is all by himself, giving up everything for the sake of the gospel, and Simon Peter has been so busy with Jesus, he may have been neglecting his family or at least missing them greatly. Our ability to love or be loved even as God’s children is at best imperfect. It can barely mimic God’s unconditional love for us that takes away our brokenness. With God’s love, it is like having a mountain of Valentine’s Day cards piled high on our desks. Now it becomes up to us to find the ways to share it with others.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

valentine's day god's love popularity valentines

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A path to God's kingdom

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Special occasion: Renewal of marriage vows Readings: Matthew 22:24-31; Luke 20:27-38 “At the Resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven.” SOCIOLOGIST Brad Wilcox published a book earlier this year called Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization. Wilcox is the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, so he has spent his career studying the benefits of marriage and what makes a good marriage. In this book, he uses data to debunk some popular marriage myths. One is that unmarried people are happier than married people—the “flying solo” myth. Another is the “soulmate myth.” (Eighty-eight percent of young unmarried adults agree that there is a soulmate waiting for them somewhere out there.) He also talks about four groups who tend to do marriage well—people of faith is one such group—and what habits and practices benefit their unions, and, subsequently, their families and communities. He says this in the book’s intro: “Not everyone can or should marry. Nor stay married. But for most of us, getting married and forging a strong family is the best way to build a prosperous, meaningful, and happy life.” Wilcox has an exceptionally rosy view of how a good marriage can enrich someone’s life. But he also acknowledges: “Anyone who has been married knows that there are days, months, and even seasons of married life that can leave you angry, disappointed, or dispirited.” That said, he backs up his optimistic claims and insights with stacks of data. If you’re married, hoping to get married, interested in marriage, or wanting to support married couples, check out Get Married. Married people have the special gift (and challenge) of being the main sign of God’s grace, love, forgiveness, and mercy to one particular person: their spouse I mention Wilcox’s book because he’s an expert at marshaling data—and any sociologist will tell you that to obtain good data, you first need to ask good questions. That brings us, in a roundabout way, to this story from Matthew. Jesus explains to the Sadducees that their question concerning marriage is all wrong. They’re asking: “Based on how someone’s married life unfolds, how will things shake out for them in heaven?” Jesus doesn’t say outright, “This is a stupid question, guys!” But he does tell them that they are misled because they do not know scripture or the power of God. So let’s turn this question around. Based on what Jesus tells his disciples about heaven, how can married people live up to the promises they made when they got married? What can spouses do to help each other experience a foretaste of heaven? One thing we know is that every Christian is called, by virtue of their vocation, to be a sacrament to others—a sign of God in the world. Married people have the special gift (and challenge) of being the main sign of God’s grace, love, forgiveness, and mercy to one particular person: their spouse. Each day brings opportunities to demonstrate these godly qualities, and doing so benefits both spouses, not just the recipient. Back to the book for a moment. Wilcox sums up his findings in this way: “Giving ourselves to others—especially spouses and families—is the path most likely to lead us to a meaningful and generally happy life for most of us.” That sounds something like what Jesus told his disciples earlier in Matthew’s gospel: “Whosoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” People who have been married long enough might feel like married life becomes routine or even a little dull. But Jesus tells the Sadducees one more thing that we should note: at the resurrection, people won’t be “married and given in marriage,” but “they will be like angels.” Imagine that! Angels are divine messengers and guardians. Their bodies are spiritual, not earthly, and angels look upon the face of God. At the resurrection, Jesus tells the Sadducees (and us), everything will be transformed. This puts marriage in fresh perspective. Marriage is designed as a lifelong covenant, but that’s not the same as eternity. Spouses listen up: Your time together is holy. It’s limited. And it’s your path to God’s kingdom come—on Earth as it is in heaven.

Authors Heather Grennan Gary

Special occasion Renewal of marriage vows Matthew 22:24-31 Luke 20:27-38 valentine's day national marriage week

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