The other day, I received an
unexpected e-mail from a couple (M & L) at whose wedding I officiated quite
a few years ago. They were living down
south but were coming north for a family wedding and wondered if I was
presiding at the 10:30 Mass at St. Casimir’s.
If so, they might like to come to Mass on their way back down
south. I told them I was presiding and I
would love to see them and meet their children if they were able to stop.
The e-mail brought back to mind the
circumstances of how I met them—it was at their wedding rehearsal. I was covering that weekend for another
priest, which meant I actually inherited two weddings on Saturday (M & L
and J & K) as well as two wedding rehearsals the night before. I had never met these couples prior to the
rehearsal, so I was missing the rapport I usually developed with a couple by
working with them through the preparation period.
The first rehearsal was with J &
K. It was one of the more trying
rehearsals in my 30 years of doing weddings.
The bride was what we today call a “Bridezilla”—everything had to be her
way. No suggestion I made—regardless of
explanation—was taken seriously. In the
end, I tried to accommodate her vision, but it turned out to be one of the most
uncomfortable wedding rehearsals (and weddings, actually) I’ve ever done.
So after that ordeal, in came M &
L. I wasn’t sure what to expect but
thought “Maybe all the weddings here are like J & K”, so I braced myself. It turned out that M & L were probably
the most accommodating couple I’ve ever dealt with regarding a wedding. They were friendly, delightful, and
easy-going. The two wedding/rehearsal
experiences were like night and day.
(I’m glad I had the J & K wedding first because then I could relax
and really enjoy M & L!)
In truth, J & K may be a very fine
couple, despite my uncomfortable experience with them. Weddings are, after all, emotional affairs
and people do want a wedding to be “perfect”—whatever that may mean to
them. (In other words, I don’t want to
pass eternal judgment on someone because of a wedding experience.) I do, however, sometimes wonder if a couple
places more emphasis on the wedding than on the marriage. (The latter lasts far longer than the
former.) Maybe that’s why I enjoyed M
& L so much—their focus wasn’t on the details of the wedding; that was just
the beginning of their married life together.
By the way, they did come to Mass that
Sunday and we talked briefly after Mass.
They asked for a blessing upon the family and headed back down south,
but not before they reminded me of something I said at the wedding (that they
actually remembered!): their union wasn’t just between the two of them, but a
“Trinity” of sorts—the two of them and God.
They passed that idea on at the family wedding they had just attended.
I must say that God is a God of unexpected
surprises. The encounter with M & L
was very brief, and yet very encouraging: for me it was a God moment as I see
the faith of this couple lived out and passed on to their children. In some small way they were part of my life
and I a part of theirs. What a privilege
it is to be part of those moments! Maybe
that’s what I like best about being a priest.
Wherever I have served I have had the wonderful privilege of sharing God
moments with a number of different people.
God is amazing! In spite of my
shortcomings, God still fills life with privileged moments.
I tend to think that happens to all of
us, although often we may not even notice it.
With God we must expect the unexpected (I think that’s the catch-phrase
for the television show “Big Brother”, but that’s not to what I am referring);
God loves to give us God moments. We
just have to notice them. Such moments
inspire awe and amazement and maybe a little glimpse of what heaven is like!
Have a blessed week . . . filled with
God moments!
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