Location: San Fernando Cathedral
How beautiful is human love, which God created in his own image! So much so, that the love of a woman and a man who decide to unite their lives in matrimony has always inspired the most beautiful artistic works. The first reading, which Priscilla and Jonathan picked from the book of Proverbs, is no exception. It is a harmonious Hebrew poem, beyond any improvisation.
The reference to wife and husband can be interchangeable. In such a way, whoever has found a woman who, like him, is hard-working and a good administrator, generous and active, firm and kind, has found a precious pearl. As the poem expresses, there must first be the natural disposition for God to do His work in marriage. Nature perishes by itself, but if it opens itself to God, He performs an imperishable work. When the foundation of love between man and woman is love for God, nothing can separate them.
What you build together with God is founded on solid rock. You will be able to trust each other because you both trust in the Lord.
You, Priscilla and Jonathan, received an education from your parents that you have turned into poetry, particularly regarding your faith and your mutual giving of love. By the grace of God, you have arranged your nature so that the Holy Spirit may carry out his work in you, which is the presence of Christ. Throughout the history of salvation, the Lord prepared his people until – through the collaboration of Mary and with the loving support of Saint Joseph – the fullness of time arrived. By celebrating your marriage, you join the Mother of God to participate in the same work. Your marriage will make each of you a living presence of Christ for the other. If God wills it, both of you will make the Lord present to your children and your family to society.
In ancient times, animals were offered as sacrifices to worship and please God. However, Jesus Christ carried out the definitive sacrifice, offering himself, being at the same time victim, priest, and altar. In the second reading, Saint Paul invites you to offer yourselves, uniting yourself to the definitive sacrifice of the Lord, which is the only one truly pleasing to the Father. Only through Christ, with him and in him, is it possible for your mutual gift-of-self to become a sacrament, that is, an offering worthy of God. This is why the celebration of Marriage can take place within the Mass, since both sacraments are of the same substance: the living presence of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Following Mary’s command in the gospel, you have come today to offer yourselves, enabled by the water that introduced you to Christ through baptism. You must obey what Christ tells you, striving to live according to the Gospel and thus fill your jars to the brim. We hope for your mutual offering to be turned into a wine that will brighten your lives and the lives of those around you.
Your path begins today and, hand in hand with Mary, it will extend to eternity with her Son Jesus. Today you embark on a spiritual journey, full of adventures, some more pleasant than others, which will lead you to eternity. You will find the best wine at the end.
In the end, the artistic work that you have begun will be completed by God. Pope Francis has said: (quote) “Marriage is also an everyday task, I could say a craftsman’s task, a goldsmith’s work, because the husband has the duty of making the wife more of a woman and the wife has the duty of making the husband more of a man. (…) The Lord blesses it but it comes from your hands, from your attitudes, from your way of loving each other. Make each other grow!” (end of quote).
May Our Lady of Guadalupe protect you, care for you and advise you, so that you allow the Lord to turn the water of your human love into the best wine of divine love.
