We went to a wedding yesterday, and a Stanley Cup victory celebration broke out.
Hmm…a bigger guest list than we expected!
Can you imagine? A joyous sacramental celebration, many months in the planning – and all of a sudden, you have to figure out how to accommodate a couple hundred thousand additional guests.
My heart and my prayers have been going out to our friends – the parents of the bride – ever since the plans for the St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup parade were announced a day or two ago.
I noted that the parade route ended precisely where the bride and groom’s new life was set to begin: at the Old Cathedral in St. Louis. “How’s that workin’ out for you, Mother of the Bride?”
On the other hand, I also know just how deeply this entire family trusts in the Lord. They know the Holy Spirit intimately. They have seen the Spirit’s power at work, ever making a way where there is no way.
Sure enough: What at first glance seemed an affliction…turned into a wedding day story that all of us will enjoy for generations to come.
Stepping up like the gracious champs they are, the St. Louis Blues arranged off-site parking and shuttle service for the wedding party and guests. We all got to the church on time…and then even had a chance to mingle with hockey legend Brett Hull, team owner Tom Stillman and other Blues alumni as they gathered for the team’s rally beneath the Gateway Arch.
Hully, Stillman and Plager pose with the wedding party.
Not exactly like we planned. Instead, the day went way beyond our expectations – right down to the strains of “Gloria!” that drifted into church from the rally loudspeakers nearby…the Blues’ adopted anthem adding a joyous note of thanksgiving and praise.
Can you hear the faint sound of “Gloria” drifting in as the bride walks down the aisle?
As we blessed Meg and Lucas, I couldn’t help but marvel at the timing of it all – on the vigil of Holy Trinity Sunday, when we ponder and celebrate one of the deepest mysteries of our faith: God who is Three and One.
This mystery, I noted, is inscribed in gold on the lintel of the very church where we gathered yesterday. And the gospel passage we proclaim today quotes Jesus as more or less encouraging us to immerse ourselves in it:
Jesus said to his disciples: I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
That’s exactly right, isn’t it?
God – the Triune God – often chooses to bless us in ways that go far beyond our desires and expectations. Oftentimes, our job is simply to trust…to embrace the mystery…and then watch in amazement as 200,000 people show up to help us celebrate on a long-planned wedding day.
The clouds parted for the wedding and the rally…thanks be to the Triune God.
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 
I’m jealous you know, you were much closer to the Cup than I; pretty classy organization…
Joe Vilmain
All in good time, my friend: The Blues, I hear, have been bringing that silver beast all over town — so perhaps Manchester will be next! And yes, they showed a lot of class in that whole wedding-takeover thing>