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Saturday, June 24, 2000

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These words may be very brief. I have a reputation for either forgetting speeches I have memorized or losing parts of speeches I plan to read.

Kelly and David we all are delighted to be here to witness your vows to each other and we all commit ourselves to be there for you in the years to come.

As a young man in the early sixties I can remember Kennedy’s speech. "Ask not what your country can do for you but rather what you can do for your country." For him our greatest service was to share with the world the talents and gifts of our citizens - particularly the young college graduates.

He called it a war on poverty and identified needy places around the world and across America. He established a national organization later called the Corporation for National Service. He captured the imagination of the American people and made each of us think about voluntary service.

For me he simply popularized the basic tenant of the Christian and Catholic Church that calls for each of us to reach out to the poor and the disenfranchised. Service along with faith and community have been our values since Jesus.

It is not surprising to me that by the mid-nineties David and Kelly were committing themselves to years of national and international service from Kathmandu, Nepal to the South Bronx and Greenville, Mississippi. Both had grown up in good traditional catholic homes, schools, and neighborhoods. Both firmly believed that meeting human needs was evangelical - that is God’s work.

In their worlds apart, both were living out the admonitions of Paul in this morning’s second reading.

Paul said, "To everyone in need you must share with them and make hospitality your special care." Kelly learned good southern hospitality from Lea, Sandra and Bro. Tom - her co-workers in Greenville while she was attempting to teach the Red Badge of Courage to the reluctant young men and women of the Delta.

David learned Nepali hospitality around the table of his Didi or big sister in Kathmandu. One of her children wrote on David’s door "I love David."

Paul said, "make real friends with the poor" and "live at peace with everyone." Kelly wrote a newsletter in the South Bronx. She gained the confidence and respect of single moms so much so that they would share their story with her, their personal struggle of being forced to leave public assistance without the proper resources or skills. David trained hundreds in Nepal to be more aware of good sanitary practices without being condescending in any way.

These two worlds apart began to merge in a makeshift church in Kathmandu. One Saturday afternoon Ellen Sugrue offered to go to mass with David. She did one of the readings that day for the 77 year-old priest from Ohio. She spent several hours with David after church in the Annapurna Hotel discussing the readings, getting to know him a little better and telling him about her dear friend, Kelly. Many teas later David had Kelly’s e-mail address and the rest is history.

These two friends of ours are incredible examples of Christian faith and service. But that is not the whole picture here. All of us play a major part in their lives. We are the community, the family, the support that they have needed to do their service.

Sometimes this support involved sacrifice. I, for example, had a full head of hair when I first met Kelly. Sometimes this support involved pain. I tried to support Kelly one day by going with her to an aerobics class in Manhattan. I snuck into the back of a small, smelly room full of mirrors. It’s no fun at my age in front of all those mirrors. But the real pain came when the teacher instructed the class to turn to the back of the room.

We cried with Kelly when those kids just didn’t care about the Red Badge of Courage in Mississippi. We told Kelly about David and David about Kelly. I’m sure some of us were involved when David made all those picnic tables as part of completing his Eagle Scout project. And we provided family where they learned faith service, and community at an early age.

For me today is so special because they are publicly saying in front of all of us that they want to be community to each other. What began as an E-mail across the web has grown to become a lifelong commitment of support that will enhance, enliven and direct their faith and service.

Finally, it is no secret to any of us that God is present here today in our scripture, in this sacrament and in this community that She is smiling on all of us and has the two of you embraced in one big hug.

Brother Edward Phelan, FSC