Tabernacles, Coveralls and Coffee Cups: 
A Wedding Homily for Sam and Jane
 
          “Home is where the heart is.” 
          We know this saying. We’ve heard it many times.
          Home is where the heart is. 
          We also know that this saying is true. But how does it happen? How does “a heart” find its place within “a home?” 
          The short answer, of course, is love. Yet, the manner in which love reveals itself in day-to-day life is often subtle…and, well, ordinary.
          It might hide beneath the plates arranged on a table at suppertime or kick off its boots in the mudroom while it hangs its coveralls on the hook by the door. can float in the air like the aroma of a cake baking in the oven. Sometimes it bellows like a calf in the barn waiting to be fed.
          Given the gospel passage we just heard, a good place to assess the connection between “a home” and its “heart” is its underlying foundation: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who built his house on a strong foundation. The winds blew and buffeted the house, but it did not collapse.”
          Now, every man in this church, including the groom named Sam, knows that, in this part of country, foundations require a footers three to four feet deep. 
          But why not dig deeper? Why not seven feet? Or nine feet? The number nine, after all, is notable in a religious sense. It brings to mind the nine-day devotion called a novena.  
          And maybe that’s what Sam had in mind a couple weeks ago when, while working on the foundation of his upcoming marriage, he distributed copies of a novena to his family and friends and asked them to pray for God’s blessing on him and Jane and their future home.
          Sam knows there is no stronger foundation for any vocation than prayer.
          (Good for you, Sam!)
          So now, let’s turn our attention to Jane. If you were to ask Jane how their house will become a “home where the heart is,” she might suggest you take a look in the backyard. Why? Because there’s a good chance you’ll find a swing with a wooden bench that once belonged to her grandmother, Alma.
          Nestled within this swing are memories, memories of cookies and milk, hugs and giggles and summertime love, the kind of love bestowed by parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts who have walked the road of love before ahead of them and continue to guide them on them on its way day after day, year after year, generation after generation.
          Jane knows that family love is enduring love.
          (Good for you, Jane!)
                                                                          ***
          Such are the ways in which a house becomes a home for the heart. And not just for one’s own heart, but for God’s heart as well. A dwelling place for God himself.
          Our Catholic tradition has a special name for a dwelling place of God. We call it a tabernacle, such as the tabernacle prominent here in Holy Redeemer Church. 
          Many of you already know that the altar for this tabernacle was designed and built by Jane’s family. And what a beautiful work of art it is! The polished wood and gentle curves remind us that, indeed, God dwells with us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
          This altar’s connection to Jane’s family also reminds us that God dwells within our families, making ordinary homes into tabernacles of the Sacrament of Marriage.
          When we pray the Angelus and recite its central verse, “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us,” we acknowledge the mystery of God dwelling within ordinary, day-to-day life. 
          The gesture that accompanies these words—the reverent bowing of our head and touching our hand to heart—assures us that homes built on love are, in fact, household churches, places where kitchen tables turn into altars and chalices look like coffee cups; sanctuaries where crosses adorn living room walls, rosary beads rest on nightstands and, outside, a statue of Mary graces a flower bed next to the porch. 
          Such are the tin roofs, varnished doors and scrubbed floors of countless camouflaged chapels located on county roads and village streets across this country. 
                                                                          ***
          Sam and Jane, we are so happy for you! And we are grateful—grateful beyond words—for the love and faith that God has poured into your hearts.
          We have no doubt that your house will have a strong and sturdy foundation. Built on love and centered on prayer, it will be a place of joy, a place of peace, a place for your hearts to dwell. 
          Indeed, it will be a place where Christ himself will feel at home…a place where He will feel very much at home. 
          God bless you!