For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
– 2 Corinthians 12:10
The Lord blessed us with an extra special Mass this Sunday: it was a wedding Mass!
At first, I was uncomfortable that the priest spent so much of his homily talking about the realities of marriage after the wedding day: the little frictions, the mundane responsibilities, the daily routines, the grind of married life.
I remember thinking, “Why is he emphasizing about this at a wedding?”
And then, about halfway through the homily, I realized: this is wisdom from God.
Anyone can be happy on their wedding day.
The beautiful Mass, the flowers, the celebration, the vows, the excitement of beginning a new life together. Who wouldn’t be happy?!
But the daily grind is where things get real.
It is in the dishes that didn’t get washed. The bills piling up. The tiredness. The different ways of doing things. The small misunderstandings. The conversations you’ve had a hundred times before. The moments when you’re both exhausted and have no patience left.
The devil attacks us through the cracks of the mundane realities of daily life.
The priest pointed this out so directly. It almost felt like he was warning the newlyweds, and everyone else in the church, to pick up our shields before the battle even begins.
Because the devil is clever.
And we are weak.
Love is deeper than a feeling. It’s a choice.
It is easy to love when everything is easy.
But to keep choosing love when you are tired, annoyed, misunderstood, or simply going through another ordinary Tuesday, that is something else entirely.
Maybe holiness is often built right there.
In the ordinary.
In choosing patience one more time.
In forgiving one more time.
The homily felt so personal to me. I left that Mass praying that if marriage is what the Lord has planned for me, He would prepare my heart to receive the grace to love my future spouse as He does.
Thanks for being here. God bless!
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