In case you missed it, there was this "royal" wedding today in London. The son of Charles and Diana, Prince William, exchanged vows with Kate Middleton in Westminster Abbey. What a "royal" fuss has been made worldwide over this event. The media is absolutely insane and quite frankly, I've had it up to here with the Amercian media. NBC viewed this event as so stupendeous that the Today crew has been in London all week. Good grief. I think we all can agree that we wish William and Kate well; I pray that more effort has gone into a lifetime of marriage than went into preparing for the wedding. And I am quite pleased that the Anglican Archbishop of Cantebury did give a great homily extolling married life; he even called all weddings "royal" weddings. The Archbishop even evoked the role God plays in marriage. Hmmm. Makes me pray harder that the Anglicans, Episcopalians, et al really return to the proper theology on marriage.
By the way, did you catch goofy NBC with a countdown clock to the "royal" kiss? Talk about juvenile.
Just a little something for Catholics to consider. The British, by law, and fully supported by the Church of England and the Monarchy, continue to discriminate and reject Catholicism. What? Did not Great Britain lay out the royal red carpet for Pope Benedict? Yes they did. And they remain stunned at the fallout; Catholic converts in record numbers, the Anglican ordinariate where Church of England types are converting en masse. But to my brother and sister Catholics: it is still British law that no member of the monarchy may marry a Catholic. He/she may marry many folks; just not Catholics. 300 years later, the Brits still cling to the Settlement Act of 1701 which says no heir to the throne may marry a Catholic. And God forbid, if a Catholic falls in love with a royal, he/she must renounce Holy Mother Church for the royal. Seems crazy; not so fast. It happened in just the last 10 years or so. Sad. In 2011 the Brits, the Royals and the Church of England still disdain the Catholic Church.
Today, while the world sat like deer in the headlight of a "royal" wedding and will he kiss her or not, the bodily remains of Pope John Paul II were moved ahead of the Sunday beatification of the beloved Pope. Rome witnessed another day of pilgrims, obviously capable of functioning this day without being glued to the TV, flocking to Rome to take part in the beatification ceremonies. The beatification of Pope John Paul II is indeed something I will wake up early for. I must admit, I did get up early during today's events because the bathroom was calling(middle-age man humor). But I will get up joyfully and eagerly to soak up all the events of Sunday as the Pope of my lifetime becomes Blessed.
So tonight, I can pray for William & Kate because I am a huge fan of marriage. My bride and I have been at it for 34 years and I love preparing young couples for married life. So I hope these "royals" will make a go of married life not just over hyped weddings. But for me, my focus this weekend will be on Rome and the events from the Vatican. I cannot wait til Sunday when with the entire Church I can say, Blessed Pope John Paul II, pray for us.
As people of faith, we need to keep our priorities straight!
Just a brief correction: The sermon was given by Bishop Richard Chartres, who is the Bishop of London. The vows were witnessed by Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury
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