John Magnoski *blog

Katie & Brian’s wedding.

Love…
This time of year revolves around that one simple but powerful word and all things connected to it.
It has so many different meanings, that it is almost a cliche… and to some, it is.

Do we know what Love really is? Can we put it into words?
Or is the word ‘Love’ more like a photograph - worth a thousand words?

Personally, I think it is much simpler than that.
And I will do my best to share with you how I see and understand ‘Love’.

First of all, let me say what Love is NOT - Lust. They are completely opposite of one another.
Yet, our modern culture likes to confuse you and make you think that they are one and the same.

That way, they can sell you more ’sex(y)’ things. And you all know what I am referring to.
These ’sexy’ things cause men and women to run around ‘loving’ like crazy… again, you already know, so I’ll spare the details.

In essence, the real meaning of Love has become perverted through the mixed messages of our modern life.
And this has been going on for a loooong time, it is nothing new. And neither is my commentary I’m sure.
But I felt it necessary to share how I feel on this day of Love.

Everyone sees Love (at least at this time of year) as having to do with ’sexual passion’
What a pity, since love is so much more meaningful and so much deeper than the shallowness of sexual passion.
What people are really celebrating anymore is Lust.

As I said, Love is so much more than sexual passion.

Love as defined by the bible in 1 Corinthians 13-

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Love never fails.

Wow! It is an all encompassing thing! Known as Agape in the Greek.
This Agape comes directly from God, and it dwells in those who wish to love others as He loves us.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Now that is true Love. To lay down one’s life for the whole of mankind and creation, so that we may have entrance into His kingdom…
For that kind of Love I am eternally grateful.

In fact, that reminds me of what my daughter, Faith said when she was around three years old.
She was an early talker (like most girls I’ve heard) and has always been very sweet.

One day, while sitting with her on her bed, showing her pictures in a book - she pointed up the the crucifix we have over her bed.
She said to me “He’s broken…” Obviously referring to Jesus as he hung on the Cross.
To which I responded, “Yes honey, he is. But he is okay now. He …”
She interupted me at that point and said simply but matter of factly, “That’s Love”.

I, of course, got all teared up. Here was my daughter, too young to understand theology and scripture, yet she understood the meaning of the Cross.

I hope I never forget her sweet voice as she said those words.

Love - although extremely complex and can be defined in numerous ways, is really very simple and matter of fact.
Even though everyone of us (myself included) will be thinking of flowers, cards, gifts, dinners etc. on this day,

I simply wanted to offer you all my gift of what Love really means - that gift was my daughter Faith’s simple witness.

Hopefully you’ll take that to heart and it will cause you to view this holiday (Holy Day) in a new light.
And that you will focus on the definition of Love and apply it to your daily life - I know I will be.

I could go on, but there really is no need.
Thank you for allowing me to share this simple thought process with you.

God Bless!

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

I will be celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary this October the 18th.
And every year that goes by, like a fine wine, our marriage becomes sweeter and more valuable.

But I don’t think i would feel that way if I would have went into my marriage the ‘wrong’ way.

What do I mean by ‘the wrong way’?

Simple, it’s known as sowing your wild oats.
I had a very low-key bachelor party before my big day.

My wife and I are not into drinking or wild partying and definitely did not want to do the ’stripper’ thing before promising our lives and souls to one another and to God.
She and her friends went out to dinner while my friend and I had pizza, played games and watched movies all night… yawn right?
Wrong. It was a blast. We were able to recount the memories of when we were growing up, and how I first met Heidi and so on.. And my head was totally clear the next day to know that the decision I was making was the right one. Not only that, but we did not see each other until the ceremony… and when she came walking down the aisle… lets just say I lost it. ; )

As I tell everyone I can - I love weddings, I love marriage and I highly recommend it to everyone I meet.
To have someone who loves and supports you by your side on a daily basis is such an amazing thing. Words can’t do that feeling justice.
Sure at times you get annoyed and maybe you fight, but that is normal and nothing to worry about - unless violence is involved. (see my post on love)
All of my wedding clients who have already tied the knot know what I mean, and those of you getting married this year will know what I mean.

Now, that doesn’t mean you cannot have fun. Just remember that you are entering into a sacred bond.

So keep it clean. To give you guys some ideas - check out this article from Sundays newspaper: Grooms and friends ditch the wild side for the wilds

Anyway, I just wanted to share this article with you all, hopefully this is a trend that continues.

Guys, do your brides a favor - do not go partying and gawking at strippers.
That’s just gross and not the best way to enter into your marriage.
(Gals, that rule applies to you too.)

If you have any cool ideas for clean and memorable pre-wedding parties, let me know in the comment section.

God Bless!

Katie & Matt’s Wedding

Location:  St. Thomas the Apostle Church