PREPARING THE WEDDING HOMILY A Guide for Preachers and Couples Paul Turner Paper, $11.95 88 pages, 5½" × 8½" ISBN 0-89390-569-0 View Table of Contents View Excerpt Quantity:

Preparing the Wedding Homily is a breakthrough book that promises to make every wedding more meaningful. Paul Turner, a priest and homilist, believes it is essential to involve the couple in homily preparation. His approach departs from the usual custom of picking readings first. Instead, he provides tools that help the couple think through the message they want to share and then select the most appropriate readings. Clergy and marriage preparation teams will want to use this important tool in their ministries.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Homily

The Couple

The Assembly

Developing Themes

The Wedding Lectionary

Readings

 Old Testament readings

 New Testament readings

 Responsorial Psalms

 Gospels

Homily worksheet

Sample homily

Introduction

The wedding homily interprets God's word for the couple and the community. The homily is one element of a complex ceremony involving many words, gestures, music, decorations, ministers, families, friends and fashions. The success of the ceremony does not rest on the homily. But with careful preparation, the preacher can shed light on the meaning of this event for the couple, the community and the world.

Whether you are the preacher, the bride or the groom, this book intends to help you prepare for the wedding homily. This book works best if all three of you work at it together.

First you'll remember what a homily is. Then you'll explore more about who the couple is. You will also think about the family and friends who will come to the wedding. Finally, you'll learn about what the scriptures are. Then the responsibility falls to the preacher to deliver the results. But with all this preparation, those results should be rewarding.

The attentive preacher and couple will enter this task with some apprehension. This book will invite you into some very personal discussions. The couple will share a lot about their lives. The preacher will share experience about God. Together you will approach this wedding as a special spiritual moment. In the homily, you can share the fruits of your conversation with all who come for the ceremony to offer their friendship and to witness the love of Christ and the couple.

Preparing the wedding homily is different from preparing most other homilies. On a typical Sunday, the preacher takes the scriptures that appear in the lectionary for the day and then talks about their application. At a wedding, though, the readings come from a pool of options. You can choose from among them the ones that best fit this occasion. Preparing the wedding homily also includes selecting the wedding scriptures.

So, on Sundays, the preacher studies the assigned scriptures to determine the homily's theme. But at weddings, you may discuss themes and then search for apt scriptures. That makes this preaching unique.

This book will help you reflect on the lives of the bride and groom of this unique wedding and to listen for what the Spirit is prompting the preacher to say to the people gathered for its celebration.

May God guide you through this task. May you discover God's love in new ways.