Wedding Homily using 1 John 3
There is a ridiculous old story about a fisherman who was enormously successful. Each morning he would take his small boat out on the lake and within a few hours he would return with a boat loaded with fish. People wondered, how did he do it?
One day a stranger showed up and asked the man if he could go along the next time the man went out fishing. The man said, "Sure. Meet me here tomorrow morning at 5:00 and we will go out." The next morning the two of them made their way through the early morning mist to a small cove where the fisherman stopped the boat and cut off the motor. The stranger wondered where the man's fishing equipment was. He had no rod and reel. All the stranger saw was a small net and a rusty tackle box.
Slowly the man pulled the tackle box over to himself, opened it, and took out a red stick of dynamite. Taking a match, he lit the fuse of the dynamite, held it for a moment and heaved it into the water. There was a terrific blast. Soon he was dipping up fish in his small net and filling up the boat. After watching this the stranger reached into his hip pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening up the wallet he flashed a badge-the badge of a game warden. Somberly he said, "You're under arrest." This didn't seem to rattle the fisherman. He reached into the tackle box, pulled out another stick of dynamite, lit it, held it for a moment while the fuse burned on down, then handed it to the game warden. "Now," he said, "Are you just going to sit there or are you going to fish?"
In 1 John today that is the question that we get asked, "Are you going to sit there or are you going to fish?" We read, "Little children, let us love in deed and truth." In other words, anybody can say "I love you." Words are cheap. Action counts. Dick and Jane are coming before us to show their love for God and their love for each other. They are putting into action their love. They are not just mouthing the words of love. It is easy to just say the words I love you, but what is behind those words is what is important.
Several years ago there was a famous PEANUTS cartoon in which Schroeder, that piano loving intellectual, was interrupted as he often was by his infatuated admirer, Lucy. Lucy asked Schroeder, "Schroeder, do you know what love is?" Schroeder abruptly stopped his playing, stood to his feet and said precisely, "Love: noun, to be fond of, a strong affection for or an attachment or devotion to a person or persons." Then he sat back down and resumed playing his piano. Lucy sat there stunned and then murmured sarcastically, "On paper, he's great."
That is the kind of love that I John is writing about. Love on paper. Long on sentiment, short on action. Today we see some of the characteristics of Christian love that Dick and Jane have considered before coming to be wed today. They are making it a part of their lives in front of all of us as witnesses to their growing love.
Christian Love is always in keeping with God’s commandments. It keeps God’s commandment about loving others even in difficult times. It is a love for God that flows to other people. Dick and Jane both love their Lord. They are making the Lord a part of their marriage today and in the future they will pass along that same love to their children. They will see their love grow in their marriage not by sitting down and looking holy, but by being in mission, by fulfilling their baptismal commitment to spread the word of God. They are doing that today by inviting us to witness their love of God with each other. They show their love of the Lord by their service to the Church as sacristans. They show their love of the Lord, and each other, by their volunteering of their time to help others. Love in action is love of the Lord.
We all have our shortcomings but we also have an incredible depth of love that is given to us by Christ. Before we can truly love ourselves, before we can truly love another person, we have to see that Christ loved us first. He is our source, our wellspring for love. If we ever begin to feel a little empty, a little like “I cannot love today,” we have to return to our wellspring of love, our Lord Jesus Christ and be refilled with overflowing love.
What is Christian love? It is love that acknowledges the commandments of God. It is love that acknowledges that we cannot love God if we cannot love our fellow human beings. It is love that is a response to the love of God made manifest in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is love not only in word and speech but in deed and action. It is the love that Dick and Jane have for the Lord and each other. It is love that doesn't just sit there. It fishes!