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Marriage of Larry and Debra Zerhusen
Church of the Nativity
August 11, 2018
A New Image for the Trinity
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Childhood Image
We have all grown up with an understanding of the Trinity as being 3 individual persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We have probably created a picture of the Father as an old gray bearded gentleman, the son, as a fair-haired, good looking, blue eyed young man, and the Holy Spirit as dove.
The two individuals whose love we have gathered here this morning to celebrate — Debbie and Larry — have helped me come up with a more appropriate image of the Trinity both (1) By the readings they have chosen and (2) By the love they share.
Allow me to explain.
Their Choice of Readings
Their first reading is from the Book of Tobit.
We heard how on his wedding night, before sleeping with Sarah, Tobit says to his new wife, “Sister, get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and grant us deliverance.”
The rest of the reading is their beautiful prayer, to which they both respond with a hearty, “Amen, amen!”
What it tells us is that, not only is God important in their relationship, but God is the source of the blessing that is their marriage.
The reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians spells out the essential elements of the husband/wife relationship that Debbie and Larry have toward each other.
To quote St. Paul, they are to, “put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another… and over all these they are to put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.”
So (1) Tobit emphasizes that a marriage relationship begins in God and (2) Colossians that that relationship grows through concrete expressions of love.
The Gospel that Larry and Debbie chose describes the extent to which their efforts of loving are to go.
Jesus says that the greatest commandment of the Law is to, “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind…and your neighbor as yourself.”
That’s a lot of loving, Larry and Debbie; it’s loving “with all your heart, soul, and mind … and your neighbor as yourself.”
So, yes, you’re to spend yourselves fully for each other and —a very important “and” — you’re to extend that loving even to others.
The Readings and Your Life Together
So we see all 3 readings address relationships and how they (1) Begin in God, (2) Build through your efforts and (3) Extend to all whom you meet as your neighbor.
It’s no mere coincidence that you chose the 3 readings you did, for yes, they seem to resonate with your own values. Yes, they express your own desire to live a married life together,
But, I would add that they already reflect your lives and relationships within the community, in your ministry here at Nativity, and among us your family and friends.
A Clearer Image
I would add that as you live out the readings, you will also be modeling in a dramatic way the loving relationship within the Holy Trinity, a godly love.
Rather than our trying to image what each of the three persons looks like — the Father one way, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit a third…
Your loving each other and your loving us is like the giving and receiving of the Father’s love for Jesus and Jesus’ love for the Father…
And it’s the love of the Son and the Father pouring itself out in the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
It looks like we all have a great stake in the love you’re committing to today.
It’s not just for yourselves, but it will impact those who know and love you.
And it will help us better understand the dynamic relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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