Deacon Tom Fox

Libby’s Lesson on Love (or)

Marriage Is Special and So Are The Grandkids

Hi Catholic Moms… and anyone else along for the e-ride. I don’t normally include pictures in my Catholic Mom columns. I’ve asked dear Lisa to help me present this picture close enough to the text so I can explain what you are looking at and then give you some of the background.

This picture is of our two young Arizona granddaughters; they live in Scottsdale. Their names are Libby, age 5 and Ellory, age 3 and ½. They both have great imaginations – they love dress-up and pretend. And in this photo, Libby, the taller sister is dressed in white – and in this picture -- she’s the bride. Ellory (who doesn’t yet worry about such sex-stereotyping matters) is enjoying being the groom. They are celebrating their make believe wedding. This specific picture is the two of them having their first dance together at the reception. They came up with this on their own – Libby told her mom what she was going to do – and mom was able to grab the digital camera to catch a few moments – mom moments that flood the emotions with joy and sweetness and tenderness.

The interesting thing I’d like to share with you is that Libby – the producer and director in all of this – Libby stopped to pray before everything they did. She prayed for their make-believe marriage ceremony; she prayed before their first dance; she prayed before other little ‘events’ in this wonderful afternoon of pretend….

No one coached them; mom (our oldest daughter Barbara) who witnessed much of this didn’t tell Libby or Ellory what to do. They just did this… and Libby even prayed for their future together and their future children. Isn’t that beautiful?

So, beyond the sweetness and innocence – why am I sharing this with you? As a deacon I run into many issues I would never have thought of before my ordination. Questions such as: can you marry us outside of the church? Do you mind if we have a special theme – like wearing cowboy clothes? Can we write our own vows? Can we put together our own readings rather than using the Scripture readings you showed to us?

In a sense – these requests are (relatively) small, although they indicate a problem that I’d like to ask you to pray and take an active stand on. Many people assume that they are in charge – they are in control of everything in their lives. This is so much the case that there is an assault on marriage in our country. To back up the concern for what is going on here and elsewhere – let me share some words from John Paul II.

The late pope said that a marital union between a man and a woman is part of God's plan itself. "Marriage and the family cannot be considered a simple product of historical circumstances, or a superstructure imposed from outside on human love. On the contrary, they [the family and marriage] are an interior need of this love, so that it can be realized in its truth and in its fullness of mutual self-giving. "

He said that even the act that physically and most profoundly unites a couple is truly and uniquely the province of marriage according to the plan of God. John Paul II said that ‘ To understand the family and to help it, it is necessary to go back to its "source," namely, "to God, who is Love and who lives within himself a mystery of a personal communion of love. In creating humanity out of love in his image, God inscribed in man and woman the vocation and, consequently, the capacity and responsibility of love and communion. God's plan has not changed, who has inscribed in man and woman the vocation to love and to the family.”

So even though I (Deacon Tom) risk ridicule for using two girls or some folks misunderstanding by depicting Libby and Ellory at their pretend wedding – the beauty of the grandkid’s story is that Libby demonstrated that all things begin with God. Society has lost that – and many shrug their shoulders at the idea of supporting marriage as a sacrament between one man and one woman…. Live and let live. And that, dear readers is the reason that marriage and all-things-holy are slowly being nibbled at, bite by bite under an almost orchestrated ridicule for what most everyone believed in as little as fifty years ago. We need to join the fight for the sanctity of marriage… a sanctity of life (from conception till natural death) and a sanctity of family. Please join me in prayer. Please join in pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family oriented activities in your parish and community. Write letters – be heard. Blessed Virgin Mary who participated in the marriage sacrament at Cana, guide us in these matters.

Blessings.
Deacon Tom
www.deacontomonline.com

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Tom Fox was ordained a Deacon in the Archdiocese of Denver. He currently lives and serves in a small, but growing mountain community in northern Arizona. Tom has received many requests for copies of his Sunday homilies and his shorter Communion Service Reflections. He is an experiential preacher who uses life and stories to share a message of today for Catholics and other Christians Many of his sermons are found on the internet – and a collection of them are found on his website: www.deacontomonline.com. Tom would love to hear from you and will try to answer any questions or sharing that you send in.