The Wedding Sermon of Prince William and Kate Middleton

This morning, I, like the rest of the world, rolled out of bed to grab a cup of joe, and watched a few moments of the royal happenings in London before work.  

Although I wasnt entirely certain of why there was so much a do surrounding this wedding and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the pomp and circumstance,  it only took a few sips of my coffee and a couple of Beefeaters on the tv, before I too was sucked in.    Cynical Scott slowly began to fade.      

Through the whole hour or so that I watched, I was taken by a single thought.   Despite the millions spent on the wedding, the words that were used to marry Kate and William were almost identical to the very words used to marry couples in our small church on the opposite end of the world.   It was a great reminder that behind all the bells, whistles, and tiarras…   Their  moment is no different from ours.

Although the  wedding sermon, delivered by the Bishop of London, was a bit too “english” in speech and presentation to keep my 5am self fully engaged, and led me to a couple “resting of the eyes” moments… I found myself with crooked eyebrow on two pieces of his message.  Ultimately, those two statements are what I believe will ultimately be remembered and requoted, and led me to find this transcript to his message…

First, was the Bishop’s use of St. Catherine of Siena’s quote “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”   Second, was his reminder that every wedding is a royal wedding, as we are all subjects to the king of Creation.   

For those of you who might have missed the fact that behind all that pomp and circumstance there was a worshipful and covenantal moment between two young people, a church, a community, and God…   I have attached the transcript of the Bishop’s Wedding Sermon.  Hopefully it will serve as a reminder that the holy moment came first and  the fairy tale one second.

Congratulations to “Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge”, and in retrospect, I  guess that the occassional Fairy tale wedding can even make the most cynical among us, hope for the best.  (At least it will get us out of bed.)

The Royal Wedding Message

(The Rt. Rev. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London)

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St. Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.  

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen