In our first reading, we hear in the beginning, he made them male and female, and they are a complementary gift to one another. In our church, our Catholic church, we have a sacramental system. We all know that there are seven sacraments, and as a priest, one of the great privileges that I have is to be able to marry couples who actually, in truth, marry each other when you think about it. The priest is there to give witness on behalf of the church, as the man and the woman stand before those who they love, family, and friends as they stand before God, and they give the sacrament to one another. I will take you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love and I’ll honor you all the days of my life. Sacred vows committed between a couple. One of the great privileges, as I said, is having the opportunity to give witness at a wedding, but what I think I even enjoy more is when I have the opportunity to celebrate with couples who are celebrating their anniversary, a 25th anniversary, a 50th anniversary of a marriage celebration.

A couple who made those promises to one another in good times and in bad, and in sickness and in health, and have lived out those promises, those vows, for 25 years, or 50 years. What they have done is they have in flesh those vows, the bones of the vows that they made, they in flesh, and it’s a wonderful thing to celebrate. I think the expansion of the gospel, when we look at it today, is really talking about the commitments we make in life, and the integrity of our commitments. When we make a commitment, do we keep those commitments? When we keep the commitments that we make, it shows the integrity of our character to follow, to be faithful, to love, and to be committed. Whether that is as a married person, or a single person, whether that be as a religious or as a priest. To show the integrity of our lives as disciples of the Lord Jesus, keeping the promises that we make.