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Posted May 10, 2011
An Excellent Model for a Wedding Sermon
From The Royal Wedding: The full text of the Bishop of London's sermon
April 29, 2011
"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." So said St
Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a
way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to
be, their deepest and truest selves.
Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the
message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the
right one – this is a joyful day!
It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these
celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.
In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king
and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through
them into the future.
William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous
God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus
Christ. And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give
themselves to each another.
A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and
committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which
we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the
more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our
spiritual beauty is more fully revealed.
In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life. It is of
course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can
dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a
solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of
generous love.
You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new
relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in
which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for
the human race.
We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of
peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power
that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century.
We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but
rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth
and for one another.
Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of
art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to
reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each
must give the other space and freedom.
Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase: “Whan maistrie [mastery]
comth, the God of Love anon, Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.” As the
reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a
corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will
supply meaning and happiness in life.
This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we
all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual
forgiveness, to thrive.
As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ,
the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with
light.
This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next
generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and
division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and
joy and peace.
I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and
sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold
you in your new life.
And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that
way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in
preparation for this day: God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the
love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in
life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.
Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask
this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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