These are a few of the thoughts that I shared with our parish family on this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Yesterday the son of one of our parish families was married at the neighboring parish of Saint Barbara in Harrison City. They are a great young couple, in love with each other, and they shared a day of celebration and joy that reflected that love, and the awareness of the love that Christ has for them. They now begin their journey together, and despite the inevitable struggles and hurdles, I trust that their vision and their hope will be rooted in covenant love. I wish them well.
In the Gospel for this Sunday we encounter another young couple, blessed by family and friends, who celebrated their covenant love at a great party that included Mary, Jesus and his friends. They too were looking to the future, as they began their journey together ... despite the embarrassing hurdle of "running out of wine". Jesus took care of that mishap.
As we begin our journey anew at the beginning of this Ordinary Time, we face the uncertainty of the future, the challenges to love and respect presented by society, the unforeseen hurdles that life places before us. But like these two couples from different times, we are blessed with the reminder of the covenant love that has been shared with us, which we find in the passage from the Hebrew Scripture of today's Mass. Those reminders are that we are not alone or accursed or forsaken, but that we have been chosen, we are espoused by none other than the Redeemer himself. Our journey is not our own, It is made in the unity of love found in Christ and his Church. It is strengthened by the gifts of the Spirit poured into our lives and our family. It is renewed in the vision given to us of his unbelievable love and mercy. There is great power in that kind of love.
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