Wedding Lectionary: 1 John 3:18-24

The “other” First John passage is an expression of Christian confidence before God. All of 1 John 3 treats the virtue of love as the hallmark of the believer.  Lest anyone think the virtue of one’s expression of love is enough, the apostle reminds us that God’s grace already operates in us, and is the cause for our ability to love.

How does this work in the context of Christian marriage? Quite well, I would think. “God is greater than our hearts and knows everything,” we are told. person in love may well feel her or his love is quite powerful and profound. We do well to recall God is greater than that.

Children, let us love not in word or speech

     but in deed and truth.

 

Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth

     and reassure our hearts before him

     in whatever our hearts condemn,

     for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,

     we have confidence in God

     and receive from him whatever we ask,

     because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

And his commandment is this:

     we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,

     and love one another just as he commanded us.

Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,

     and the way we know that he remains in us

     is from the Spirit that he gave us.

Like much biblical advice, we are encouraged to live out the faith or the feelings we have within us. Good advice heading into a marriage, I would think. Expressing of the virtue of love is important. First, we get practice. Second, the “feeling” of love benefits from an “incarnation” of sorts: the feelings are translated into something concrete, measurable, and it builds the confidence in the relationship.

This is also a good reading for wedding couples because it puts the emphasis squarely on God and our reliance on him. But it doesn’t let us off the hook for doing hard work to maintain a relationship. All married people–and I put myself at the top of the list–would do well to remember this.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Colossians 3:12-17

If you’re a church musician, you’ll love this reading. My own sense is that in liturgy circles, it gets done a little too much, but take heart: your casual Christians don’t hear enough of it:

Brothers and sisters:

Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,

     heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

     bearing with one another and forgiving one another,

     if one has a grievance against another;

     as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.

And over all these put on love,

     that is, the bond of perfection.

And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,

     the peace into which you were also called in one Body.

And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

     as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,

     singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

     with gratitude in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed,

     do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

     giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

Here’s the background of the letter to the Colossians. The Christian community there was beset by ideological tension, especially something of a proto-gnosticism, it is thought. After the typical structure of a Pauline letter (greeting, thanksgiving, some personal testimony from the apostle) there is an extended section dealing with right teaching. Following that is an extended passage on how to actually live as a Christian, and live within a community.

Living together brings out the worst in us. Or perhaps it becomes hard to mask the foibles and little cruelties we can inflict. The apostle gives a list of vices which precede this passage above. Then we are given the virtues for which one should strive. They are written for the particular situation in Colossae, but if they are broadly applicable to the Christian at large (as the compilers of the Bible seemed to think) they can in turn be utilized for the domestic Church, for a wife and husband. And children, too.

There is no obscure theology in this passage. It’s a list. A very good to-do list. The preaching on this passage should be simple: do the things the apostle says to do, and you’ll be just fine. If a couple wanted to celebrate their wedding day with a reminder of virtues, they couldn’t do much better than this.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Matthew 7:21, 24-29

The Sermon on the Mount contributes three possible Gospel readings for the wedding liturgy. The Beatitudes and the following Scripture provide the bookends of that text:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’

     will enter the Kingdom of heaven,

     but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

 

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them

     will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

The rain fell, the floods came,

     and the winds blew and buffeted the house.

But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

The Lectionary gives a shortened option: the text above. A couple or priest may choose to add the following conclusion to the parable of the two foundations:

And everyone who listens to these words of mine

     but does not act on them

     will be like a fool who built his house on sand.

The rain fell, the floods came,

     and the winds blew and buffeted the house.

And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

 

When Jesus finished these words,

     the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

     for he taught them as one having authority,

     and not as their scribes.

 

We read of two different comparisons in this passage. Did you catch them? In verse 21, the contrast is between those who say and do the Word. In verse 26, it is between hearing and doing. As we apply these to the marital relationship, they each have relevance.

Those who look for differences between the sexes (some might say complementarity) have latched on to the approaches of men and women to their relationships. Men, it is said, express love by doing. Men, it is said, like to solve problems, accomplish things, and get to the bottom of it. Women, it is said, express love by relating. Women, it is said, place high value on sharing, communicating, and strengthening personal bonds.

I don’t know that I want to get into the discussion of men’s and women’s wiring or social conditioning, or whatever. But in a love relationship, all three are important: saying, hearing, and doing.

Knowing my wife’s personality, sometimes she wants me to just listen. Not solve problems. Not “do” anything. We also like to hear and be heard.

It seems Jesus is urging an integration in his discourse. It is important for all of us to say, to hear, and to do. We should balance action with profession and with contemplation. Does an engaged couple have a good sense of this integration? Or perhaps they need to develop one or more of these skills with each other. If so, then this choice for a wedding gospel would seem to be a good one.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Matthew 5:13-16

Coming on the heels of the Beatitudes is this gem from Jesus, only four verses:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“You are the salt of the earth.

But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?

It is no longer good for anything

     but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;

     it is set on a lamp stand,

     where it gives light to all in the house.

Just so, your light must shine before others,

     that they may see your good deeds

     and glorify your heavenly Father.”

 The late Father Joseph Champlin had a great reflection on this reading in Together For Life:

“What really scares the hell out of me is the fear I will someday start to take her for granted.” These words of a first-year law student, married only two weeks earlier, reflect his concern for the future. He worries that later on he and she and they may become careless. His fear is well founded. The freshness of a new life together gradually does fade. Love can flourish in spite of this but only if given constant cultivation.

Couples ponder, often to themselves in the quiet of their own thoughts, “What if our love dies? What if it doesn’t work out?” I’ve had that fear. I’m sure most married people have.

The onset of love seems almost magical, and the emphasis on romance in Western society seems to lean heavy on the notion of true love, eternal love, etc.. What is missing is the hard work that accompanies a true love is also a well-cultivated love.

Jesus shares with us the human condition. He spends twelve verses saying “Blessed are they,” then drops a dose of reality in our laps like a baby’s full diaper. Our salt can lose flavor and get trampled. Our light can be hidden away. We can screw it up as badly as we can imagine.

Do couples receive realistic counseling during their engagement? Are dirty diapers plopped in their lap? Sure, lots of couples are blinded by the light of their love, and are unwilling to deal with realities. Sometimes we can only remark, “Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

A couple that chose this gospel reading would be picking one of the shorter selections, but it wouldn’t lack for impact or for being profound. Applied to the marriage, this advice about living out one’s faith is well-considered. Hopefully for the couples who choose this reading, it will be well-heard as well.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Matthew 19:3-6 & Mark 10:6-9

These two passages each contain the core of Jesus quoting Genesis 2:24. They also are situated in the Gospels as an occasion of the Pharisees testing the Lord. Language scholars inform us this “testing” is a verb with an overtone of inducing embarrassment or failure in someone.

On a joyous wedding day, we shouldn’t let the Pharisees intrude, perhaps. Some would say we shouldn’t mention the d-word, which is why the Matthean choice here:

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,

     “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”

He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning

     the Creator made them male and female and said,

     For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

     and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”

 

… isn’t preferred to the Lectionary’s edit of Mark:

 

Jesus said:

“From the beginning of creation,

     God made them male and female.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

     and be joined to his wife,

     and the two shall become one flesh.

So they are no longer two but one flesh.

Therefore what God has joined together,

     no human being must separate.”

 

Maybe a couple would prefer the brevity of Mark. Jesus quotes the Scripture. God joins the couple in marriage. No human being can or should break what God has brought together.

Another approach would be to look at the Biblical metaphor of “one flesh.” The sexual act does not involve the blending of two bodies into one. The man retains his bodily definition: skin and flesh, during and after intercourse. But the joining of the couple in the act of sex brings an emotional and spiritual unity that the body is limited in expressing. Eventually intercourse is over, but has the act of intercourse supported the other aspects of two-becoming-one that Jesus endorses as the Father’s intent?

If a couple were willing to discuss their sex life and share with one another their expectations and delve a little into this Gospel understanding, it might shed light on the Church’s teaching for the reservation of sex to marriage.

And for couples already sexually active, this notion should still be addressed. Sex within marriage has a purpose, and if sex has had a different purpose for the couple, some adjustments in understanding should naturally follow.

Curious question: have any readers used either of these readings for their wedding liturgy?

 

Wedding Lectionary: 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20

What do you say we take a look at that other First Corinthians wedding reading?

First century Corinth was a lively money-making port and boom town. Conventional wisdom that it was particularly a “sin city” (religious prostitution, for example) may not have much bearing when one looks closely at the evidence. Regardless, Saint Paul devoted what we know as the 5th and 6th chapters of his letter to a certain “theology of the body,” so to speak.

Brothers and sisters:

The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord,

     and the Lord is for the body;

     God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

 

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Avoid immorality.

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body,

     but the immoral person sins against his own body.

Do you not know that your body

     is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,

     whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

For you have been purchased at a price.

Therefore glorify God in your body.

Paul’s treatment of casual sex is a curious choice for a wedding, at first glance. Would a couple choose it to confess they’ve done it? Or would they want to contrast their chastity with Paul’s condemnation?

 

The selected passages here emphasize the Pauline notion that casual sex ultimately deprives the one enjoying it. I suppose when a couple engages in sinful sex, they each insulate themselves from the full expression within a marriage. They also insulate themselves from one another, turning the sin back onto themselves. Could be.

 

Many couples would reject that notion, though. Is a sexual act before the wedding night so different from the one on the wedding night? Is it so similar to promiscuity? I don’t know that I have a ready answer to someone who might ask that of me. Partners within marriage may use or abuse one another in certain ways, so the marriage bond is no guarantee of virtue.

 

Getting back to the end of this reading, it does express or imply a truly Catholic notion, namely that sexual expression is a great gift from God, and that it can be used by the couple to glorify God. It could be that continues to be a somewhat icky notion. It would also explain why the other First Corinthians passage gets so much more notice for wedding liturgies.

 

 

Wedding Lectionary: John 2:1-11

Does this passage make more sense as a treatise on Marriage, or on the Eucharist? Most Scripture scholars dismiss the former, noting that the wedding feast serves as merely the setting for Jesus’ first miracle (or “sign”). On the other hand, the transformation of water into wine does not happen at Mass.

I might stand more on a view of “neither.” The evangelist does not emphasize the Eucharist in his Last Supper narratives. I don’t believe there is an explicit mention of marriage in John’s gospel. On the other hand, why not accept the reading for what it is and place what it teaches in context of the wedding liturgy:

There was a wedding in Cana in Galilee,

     and the mother of Jesus was there.

Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

When the wine ran short,

     the mother of Jesus said to him,

     “They have no wine.”

And Jesus said to her,

     “Woman, how does your concern affect me?

My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servers,

     “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,

     each holding twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus told them,

     “Fill the jars with water.”

So they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them,

     “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”

So they took it.

And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,

     without knowing where it came from

     (although the servants who had drawn the water knew),

     the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,

     “Everyone serves good wine first,

     and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;

     but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee

     and so revealed his glory,

     and his disciples began to believe in him.

 

This passage is long and rich. One’s attention is caught by the exchange between Mary and Jesus. One might focus on the miracle as an example of God’s grace. One can also nod as Jesus is the agent for breaking with tradition in a good way.

What I’m attracted to in this Gospel story is the inspiration of belief, and not just an all-out belief, but as John describes it, a beginning of belief.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Engaged couples almost always have more on their mind than faith. Sometimes, faith occupies a very meager portion of their lives. What can we hope for? Quite a lot I think.

We can encourage engaged couples to be open to the miracles, the interventions of God, in their lives. How did they meet? How did they overcome obstacles? How did they find the good wine when they thought the best had already been served and drunk? If a couple is open to the power of Christ’s grace in their lives, and start looking for it in little ways, perhaps that will put them in the boat with the early disciples, perhaps they will “(begin) to believe in him.”

And that would be a very good thing.

 

Wedding Lectionary: 1 John 4:7-12

The First Letter of John reveals love as one of its primary themes. Love carries the second half of this letter, in fact. The apostle urges his readers/listeners to love and lays out a very careful argument.

The lectionary adopts this argument as one of its ten options for the New Testament reading at a wedding. The logic is beyond “God knows love;” the apostle is insisting “God is love.” 

Beloved, let us love one another,

     because love is of God;

     everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

In this way the love of God was revealed to us:

     God sent his only-begotten Son into the world

     so that we might have life through him.

In this is love:

     not that we have loved God, but that he loved us

     and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us,

     we also must love one another.

No one has ever seen God.

Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,

     and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This passage begins a longer section that leads John to conclude that love will find an expression both visible and consistent. The visible expression of love is simply loving others because God has first loved us. The consistency involves the natural inspiration of experiencing God’s love: we will naturally want to love others because of it.

With a couple in love, the expression and feelings of love are nearly a given, at least in the early stages. 1 John 4 strikes me as a passage more apt for a long-married couple than for a wedding day, but still, there are a few good lessons to which to hold fast.

First, human love is rooted in God. God made us. God made us for love and God made us to love.

Second, the example of the Son is the revelation of the Father. This example includes Jesus’ self-sacrificing acts. We believers who dare to attempt to love might keep the Paschal Mystery in mind as we treat our life’s partner with respect and affection, of course. We are also called to make heroic sacrifices as well.

Third, the expression of love, even for people inclined to be in love, has a way of perfecting the love of God.

If a couple were aware of God’s love in their lives, and saw that as part of the inspiration for their own relationship, this would be a good reading for the wedding day.

Maybe you have other insights. If so, please share them.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Ephesians 5:2a, 21-33

Before the post-conciliar renewal of the Lectionary, this passage from Ephesians was the first Scripture reading the people heard at the wedding liturgy. It’s still one of the options today. There is an option to just have the core of it, verses 25-32 proclaimed. But in either version, it’s not often chosen. The shorter version, while avoiding the female submission texts, focuses on the husband’s duties.

As I get older, I see less of what is objectionable in the entirety of this passage. In fact, this passage is likely the strongest Biblical expression of the sacramentality of marriage.

Let’s read it:

Brothers and sisters:

Live in love, as Christ loved us

     and handed himself over for us.

 

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.

For the husband is head of his wife

     just as Christ is head of the Church,

     he himself the savior of the body.

As the Church is subordinate to Christ,

     so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives,

     even as Christ loved the Church

     and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,

     cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,

     that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,

     without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,

     that she might be holy and without blemish.

So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.

He who loves his wife loves himself.

For no one hates his own flesh

     but rather nourishes and cherishes it,

     even as Christ does the Church,

     because we are members of his Body.

 

     For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother

          and be joined to his wife,

     and the two shall become one flesh.

 

This is a great mystery,

     but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.

In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,

     and the wife should respect her husband.

 

The late Father Joseph Champlin, in breaking open this reading, offers an insightful reflection:

Practical consequences flow from the sacramental nature of marriage. If the sign of the sacrament is this promise and the living out of the promise, then it follows that every time you are faithful, tender, considerate, every time you compromise or reconcile, every time you are thoughtful or unselfish, God’s grace enters your lives. Each time Christ becomes present in your midst, each time the Holy Spirit dwells in your hearts and in your home.

Lots of times couples choose a reading because they like how it sounds. You probably can’t go far wrong on that, I suppose. Some passages in the Bible are better written, more lyrical, and more appealing than others.

Another approach would be to choose readings with a theological side. The prime factor would not be how they sound, but what they say. This long-ish reading says a lot, implies a lot. Is a couple prepared to let Christ into their marriage to the point that the relationship reminds others of God? That is the high ideal of this passage from Ephesians.

So, if you can, get over the subordination. If you do, you have something lofty to which to aspire.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Philippians 4:4-9

The apostle begins a section in which he offers final recommendations. The wedding pericope picks up after Saint Paul names some names (4:2-3). This choice is new to the wedding Lectionary, being added at the end of the last decade or so. It’s not in early editions of wedding prep booklets. But it’s a good one:

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all.

No brainer. A wedding is always a time for rejoicing. It’s not clear under what circumstances Paul was writing to the Christians at Philippi, but even in a time of rejoicing, it’s a good time to add a petition against anxiety:

The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

This litany of qualities is a good reflection for an engaged or married couple. Do we strive for these, lifting up what we see in our partner, working toward what we might lack either as an individual or as a couple?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

For the Christian, it is not enough to be all these good things. Our tradition, rooted in Judaism, also demands that we “do” our faith, that we put into practice the good things we know.

Note the second promise of peace. God’s peace is a gift when we ask for what God can offer. God’s peace is also with us when we respond in action to what we have “learned and received and heard and seen.” Is a couple prepared to “do” as well as to “be?” If so, this passage from Philippians 4 makes sense as a wedding reading, despite no explicit reference to the sacrament. Are they prepared to express their discipleship in Christ through their marriage? Are they open to seeking virtue and applying it to both their family and their expression of baptism? If so, this is a good reading to consider.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8:6-7a

For those who think the ideological struggle between Catholic music contemporary and traditional is new to the Judeo-Christian experience, think again. If the Psalter is seen as the Temple hymnal for serious Jews, then the Song of Songs must surely be the Twenty-five Greatest Pop Hits For Your Wedding songbook every decent cantor winced, gagged, and pouted about when the engaged couple pulled out a scroll of their wedding suggestions. Song of Songs doesn’t even mention “God.” Anywhere in the book. No doubt, many good religious people were offended by it.

The Catholic Lectionary offers one choice from the Song of Songs for weddings. This passage includes a melding of fragments from what James Fischer calls a “springtime song of love” in the Collegeville Bible Commentary. The shepherd boy pursues (one might even say stalks) the young girl like a frantic animal:

Hark! my lover–here he comes

     springing across the mountains,

     leaping across the hills.

My lover is like a gazelle

     or a young stag.

Here he stands behind our wall,

     gazing through the windows,

     peering through the lattices.

My lover speaks; he says to me,

     “Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!

 

“O my dove in the clefts of the rock,

     in the secret recesses of the cliff,

Let me see you,

     let me hear your voice,

For your voice is sweet,

     and you are lovely.”

 

My lover belongs to me and I to him.

 

The widest separation in the Lectionary follows. The gazelle leaps six chapters and delivers to his bride a serious charge, setting aside the playful infatuation:

     He says to me:

 

“Set me as a seal on your heart,

     as a seal on your arm;

For stern as death is love,

     relentless as the nether world is devotion;

     its flames are a blazing fire.

Deep waters cannot quench love,

     nor floods sweep it away.

Not many couples choose this option for weddings. But some swallow a snicker at the outdated love imagery just to get to the final commitment of married love. It is good that an engaged couple be playful. And if that sense of attraction and play is tempered with the awareness that true love is a difficult path, I wouldn’t be too worried. In fact, I’d recommend this passage if any couple asked me.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Psalm 148: (13a) 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-13a, 13c-14a

Another “Alleluia Psalm” offers itself as a wedding choice. Along with the 112th, Psalm 148 puts a structure of praise on the lips of the assembly and her psalmist:

Let all praise the name of the Lord.

or:

Alleluia.

Alleluia.

Praise the Lord from the heavens,

praise him in the heights;

Praise him, all you his angels,

praise him, all you his hosts.

First we have a procession of the heavenly court of angels, followed by heavenly bodies:

(refrain)

Praise him, sun and moon;

praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens,

and you waters above the heavens.

Praise is invited from the landscapes of the planet, then the plants and animals:

(refrain)

You mountains and all you hills,

you fruit trees and all you cedars;

You wild beasts and all tame animals,

you creeping things and winged fowl.

Praise is requested of the human race, not just the believers in Israel:

(refrain)

Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,

the princes and all the judges of the earth,

Young men too, and maidens,

old men and boys,

Praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted.

Why should we offer praise? As if the occasion of a wedding weren’t enough, God shows his strength and power (the metaphor of the horn) for those who have been chosen:

(refrain)

His majesty is above earth and heaven,

and he has lifted his horn above the people.

(refrain)

This psalm is chosen fairly often for weddings. Any musical setting with “alleluia” has to be really good to match this text well.

When would I recommend it? Any Easter wedding, certainly. For Christians, we might see God’s expression of power (lifting his horn) as Christ’s Paschal Mystery, especially the Resurrection. Psalm 148 matches well with either Creation reading from Genesis. If it’s hard to imagine a wedding that’s not a joyous celebration, I’d say it’s hard to imagine a liturgy for which this could not be a good choice.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Psalm 112: (1bc adapted), 1bc-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7b-8, 9

Except for the final verse, an invective against the wicked, the whole of this acrostic (alphabetical) psalm is given in five stanzas. Psalm 112 isn’t chosen often. I don’t ever recall playing for or attending a wedding that included it.

It is similar to Psalms 33 and 145, covered earlier in this series. Walter Brueggemann, in The Message of the Psalms characterized these as among his “psalms of orientation.” In other words, they communicate tradition, belief, the way things ought to be. That’s a good posture from which to celebrate a wedding liturgy: grounded in tradition, steeped in the memory of what has gone before, so that we can live today and in the future as God intends.

This is a cause for rejoicing, and the psalmist has placed an “Alleluia” at the beginning of the text. The musician or couple may choose that as their sung refrain:

Blessed the man who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.

or:

Alleluia.

The stanzas that follow underscore the reasons why God blesses the person who not only follows, but derives happiness from such faithfulness. First is the blessing like Abraham’s (cf Genesis 12:2ff, 15:5-6ff): the making of a nation, or perhaps a great family tradition:

Blessed the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commands.

His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed.

(refrain)

Not only will material goodness be with the faithful, but also the qualities associated with God: mercy, kindness, and justice (cf Exodus 34:6-7)

Wealth and riches shall be in his house; his generosity shall endure forever.

Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just.

(refrain)

The Jewish understanding of virtue includes not only a person’s standing before God, but how she or he conducts relationships. This stanza picks up on the second and adds a calm self-confidence. A just person knows her or his quality:

Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice;

He shall never be moved; the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.

An evil report he shall not fear.

(refrain)

His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear till he looks down upon his foes.

(refrain)

The horn is the sign of strength and plenty in the Jewish tradition (Hannah’s Canticle in 1 Samuel 2:1). These words also echo the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55):

Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever;

his horn shall be exalted in glory.

(refrain)

A couple aware of God’s generosity in life and who are willing to practice that generosity in kind might consider Psalm 112. The exclusively male reference in the text may be too great an obstacle for many Catholics. Which is too bad, because this psalm is the most justice-oriented of those in the official wedding selections.

For those squeamish about an inclusive language edit, perhaps this is a good counterweight to the feminine reference in the Old Testament reading from Proverbs 31. Taken together, a couple couldn’t go wrong.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Psalm 33: (5b), 12 & 18, 20-21, 22

“A wonderfully complex hymn,” writes Richard J. Clifford in The Collegeville Bible Commentary in describing the 33rd psalm. The wedding Lectionary picks a few verses for the first stanza, melding together the theme of the Chosen People with the humble fear of the Lord with which believers approach God.

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

But see, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him,

upon those who hope for his kindness.

(Refrain)

Trust in God, the psalmist urges. It’s a good quality heading into a marriage:

Our soul waits for the Lord,

who is our help and our shield,

For in him our hearts rejoice;

in his holy name we trust.

(Refrain)

May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us

who have put our hope in you.

(Refrain)

I like this psalm. I’ve set it twice for weddings of friends. It comes up fairly frequently in the Sunday Lectionary, though with different sets of verses.

Verse 18 seems to challenge us to hope for God’s goodness. Do we have an expectation good things will happen if we rely on God? Or is the expectation of goodness more dependent on our mutual love for spouse, our social status, our earthly riches, or our talents? If people of the contemporary culture think their good looks, their wealth, and their passion will pave the way for a good marriage, disappointment is in store, I’d say.

From the inside, I can say marriage takes grace as much as hard work of the couple. Likely a lot more, actually. Does an engaged couple have a sense of entitlement, that the good life is automatically theirs? I think it’s fine to possess confidence in one’s future. But Psalm 33 offers some needed perspective. Hope for good things, sure. But lean on God as the source of that hope.

 

Wedding Lectionary: Psalm 145: (9a) 8-9, 10 & 15, 17-18

Psalms 145 is one of three ordinary time common psalms that appear in the wedding Lectionary. Like Psalm 34, it’s an acrostic composition, the first letter of each verse giving the Hebrew alphabet in order. Unlike Psalm 34, it doesn’t really go into much depth on its various themes. Psalm 103 is pretty close in terms of overall theme and development. If you’re an engaged couple trying to choose between 103 and 145, you might as well just consider musical settings of each and pick the one you like.

Refrain:

The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.

This is one awkward refrain to set to music. I composed a setting for my younger brother’s wedding ten years ago and I never got used to the refrain. I’d prefer an alleluia if this is the best the Lectionary or ICEL can devise.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and of great kindness.

The Lord is good to all

and compassionate toward all his works.

(Refrain)

Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord,

and let your faithful ones bless you.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you

and you give them their food in due season.

(Refrain)

The Lord is just in all his ways

and holy in all his works.

The Lord is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

(Refrain)

The psalm begins with an expression of praise to God, but the Lectionary editors plant the wedding psalmist in the middle of the text. The good news is that this collection of verses picks up on one of Psalm 145′s themes, that of faithful believers petitioning God for divine grace.

This idea does work well in the context of the wedding, though more couples choose something along the theme of praise of God. If an engaged couple had a sound awareness of their dependence on God, this is a good choice. This psalm works particularly well with the Old Testament passage from Tobit 8, though it might be a bit much to expect the congregation to be aware of the ins and outs of Tobiah and Sarah’s story.

When looking at any of the Psalm 145 settings for ordinary time, be aware the Lectionary’s text emphasizes the kingship of God. That’s not a bad notion to add to a Catholic wedding. But it doesn’t focus exclusively on the theme of petition and grace the wedding selection offers. I think the Lectionary setting for Sunday Mass is a bit scattered in focus. The wedding verses make for a tighter development.