The marriage homily, commonly known as the sermon, is a component of conventional church marriage ceremonies. Numerous contemporary, casual weddings include this aspect as well. To gain more understanding about what a homily involves during a wedding, please proceed with reading this article.
In the below part of the write-up, we will let you know a bit more about what is a homily at a wedding. Furthermore, we will let you know about the duration of the homily and what you should consider while writing a wedding homily. Keep going through the article to acknowledge all this information about the wedding homily.
What is a Homily at a Wedding?
As we said earlier, the homily is a speech that is presented by a priest usually in the Roman Catholic church. Usually, the wedding sermon is given after the reading of the scripture. Oftentimes, the homily consists of the meaning of the scripture that has been presented. Apart from the priest, the wedding homily can be given by the officiant of the marriage. It usually consists of religious views and teaching to follow for the married couple.
Homilies are a common part of the traditional mass. But they are also very common in other mass including the wedding, funeral, or baptism. At a wedding mass, the homily can be a great way to let the couple know about the importance of the relationship. Usually, the priest of the presenter of the sermon requires writing it.
What to Consider While Writing Wedding Homily
There are some important things that you should consider while writing the wedding sermon. If you have requested to present a homily at the wedding, we will recommend you to check out the below tips to write a nice homily.
Be Detailed
When it comes to the wedding homily, you should be as detailed as possible. However, that doesn’t mean to make the homily unnecessarily lengthy. Try to keep the homily as small as possible but you must be able to communicate or bring out the meaning of what you want to say. So, the deal is to bring out the overall theme of your message with specific, clear, and detailed points.
While preparing the sermon, make sure that you are keeping it around 10 minutes. That means you should prepare the writing for talking around 10 minutes in front of the mass. That is the duration you will get to bring your point of view and religious teaching for the marriage. To make sure everything will go alright, review the writing several times and proofread it to avoid any issues.
Tell a Story
Well, here, with telling a story, we mean telling a love story which everybody will enjoy. Note that the story should be straight, short, and include a definitive meaning. As we said earlier, you have 10 minutes for the homily. You will require picking a story that can be told within 10 minutes along with your other points.
This story should something joyful as the two families are going to be together with the sacred union. You might also tell the story of the couple. You can discuss how they met, and how they make it possible to bring the relationship to the marriage.
Be Specific About the Message
While writing your homily, make sure that you are reflecting on the couple's story. Moreover, you need to put some special messages for the couples so that they can make the union everlasting and peaceful. While preparing the message for the couple, make sure to determine their condition. Your message should be based on issues like whether it is a first marriage or a second.
You also need to be creative with the message if any of the couples have gone through issues like the tragic death of a partner, divorce, or something like this. Remembering these will help you to put together the words for the sermon more effectively to create an impact amongst the couple.
Common Topics to Cover
Usually, the homily conveys messages from the bible. You can talk about God's teaching on how to start and run a family. What is the duty of the husband for the family and the wife and what is the duty of the wife for the husband? There are other things that you can discuss. Along with the message for the couple, you can also begin with other topics such as the return of Jesus and related things.
Note that it is not compulsory to give a wedding sermon that should only consist of religious views and beliefs. You can always talk about something else which includes a meaning. Such as, you can talk about your personal experience about running a family and what it takes to make a marriage successful.
How Long is a Wedding Homily?
Usually, a wedding ceremony is around 30 minutes long in most cases. But it can always be different based on specific culture, religion, and traditions. The total time of the wedding ceremony can vary on a large scale based on the doings during this special event. The most common part of the ceremony includes the welcome, reading, vows, ring exchange, pronouncement, etc. This may differ on several things.
Now let’s talk about the time of the homily at the wedding. Well, the duration will also vary based on how you are planning the ceremony. In most cases, the duration of the homily is something around 10 minutes. It can be much or less based on the person who is giving the homily. If you want to know how long the wedding homily will be, we will recommend keeping it around 15 minutes. But chances are high that it will end earlier.
Conclusion
A wedding is a way to religiously and socially accept the union between two peoples. While the culture of weddings varies on a large scale, the homily is a common thing that you will find in the traditional US wedding of Christians.
