Celebrating In June, Weddings & Marriages!
Deacon Patrick Constantino | Photos courtesy Dcn. Constantino
A reading from 1 Corinthians 13: 4–8: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endure all things.
My homily I preached at my special friends Earl and Tricia Lamadora’s wedding on January 23, 2024.
You have just heard a description of Holy Matrimony from the inspired word of God in the scriptures that was read. Now you are about to enter upon this holy state. To impress you with the seriousness of this step, I should like to remind you that in the sacrament of matrimony it is not the Priest or Deacon, but Earl and Tricia who are ministers of this sacrament. This is a wonderful thing. What does it mean?
As you have heard, sacraments are living encounters with Jesus Christ. In the sacraments, Christ enters into our lives now in order to give Himself to us and so to help us accomplish a particular work for Him. There is no more personal, nor more divine, activity in the world than one of Christ’s sacraments. In most of the sacraments a Priest or Deacon, is the instrument or the minister through whom our Lord acts as He enters into our life and our activity. But not in the sacrament of matrimony.
Here it is the two contracting parties, Earl and Tricia, you minister the sacrament to one another. This means you bring Christ Jesus to one another. You do this when you give this mutual consent to the marriage contract, when you say “I do.” So the “I do” or the “Yes” which each of you will pronounce, has tremendous implications. It means you give Christ to one another; it means you give yourselves to one another; it means you give yourselves to Christ, you give your consent to His working in you.
Up to now you have been more or less alone. Now you belong to one another and both of you to Christ. He invites you to live your future with Him; and surely there can be no greater privilege. His invitation to you is what is called a vocation. He calls you to a life with Him, a life of holiness, a life leading to holiness. You are called to be saints in the particular vocation called matrimony, the vocation of the greatest number of people in the world. And Jesus calls you to holiness, not in spite of but precisely because of your married life together, including the most intimate aspects of that life. Everything about marriage is holy and can lead to sanctity.
Your vocation in marriage, Earl and Tricia, consists essentially in living for the other party, daily, yearly, forever, growing away from self and selfishness in order to find oneself in the beloved. Both of you must do this. If both of you learn to live for the other, your life will be a joy and your marriage a success. But if either of you continues to live for self, your marriage will be in danger.
You must have the deepest respect for one another as a person. You are not mere bodies, you are Earl and Tricia, you are not something; you are someone, each of you. God’s finest creation is the human person; and therefore we must have the highest reverence for all human beings; this reverence reaches its glory in marriage. Reverence, respect, kindness; these are the formulas for happiness in marriage. Always, be kind. Be kind and you will be saints.
Now you are about to enter this new life. And immediately after you give yourselves to one another, you are going to seal your marriage in the blood of Christ offered in this Mass. I repeat in giving yourselves to one another you give yourselves to Christ. From now on your attendance at Mass will be different, more complete, more perfect than it has been before. Up to now you have given yourselves singly, by yourselves, more or less, as members of a parish community. That relationship continues but now you make the gift together.
Now we are ready for the marriage. May I suggest you enter upon this holy vocation with these words of the offertory of this Service on your lips and in your hearts: “My trust is in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are My God.’ In your hands is my destiny.”
This is the prayer and this is the wish of all your loved ones, here present, your relatives and friends, as they now witness your marriage vows. So, Earl and Tricia, are you ready to embark on this amazing adventure? Are you ready to begin this exciting partnership and journey faithfully into your future? OK, then, let us do it! God bless you!
Preparations before Marriage in most Roman Catholic Churches:
There is a four- to six-month preparation before marriage.
a. Meet with your Pastor or Deacon—prepare forms and sacraments are received and in order;
b. Go on an Engaged Encounter weekend—mandated;
c. Focus review;
d. Some churches have marriage preparation teams to help couples; and
e. Other related matters.
I believe we are the only church that has a marriage preparation program, Engaged Encounter for Engaged couples. We need a preparation like this so we can help start couples in their marriage and help them last forever! We need this also to limit divorces in our communities. Couples are taking advantage and living together with no moral commitments and no respect for a lifetime commitment. This is not what the church teachings are. We need to put God in our lives and respect one another as He has loved us!
On July 1, 2022, Patrick Constantino retired as a Deacon for the Roman Catholic Church in Hawai‘i, after serving for thirty-five years and becoming on June 18, 1987, the first Deacon of Filipino ancestry for the Roman Catholic Church in Hawai‘i. For twenty-two years, he served as Administrator at Holy Rosary Church in Pā‘ia, St. Rita Church in Ha‘ikū and St. Gabriel Church in Ke‘anae. His last assignment before retiring was at St. Joseph Church in Makawao.
Prior to his ordination, Constantino was in government—first appointed in 1966 as Assistant Sergeant of Arms by the Speaker of the House Elmer F. Cravalho. When Cravalho became Maui’s first Mayor, Constantino became his Executive Assistant—the first of Filipino ancestry. Later, Constantino became the first County Treasurer of Filipino ancestry and the first County Grants Administrator and Risk Manager of Filipino ancestry.
Constantino is married to his lovely wife Corazon for sixty-two years. They are blessed with four children, eleven grandchildren, and fifteen great grandchildren.