“The Most Important Day of Your Life”

In this season of engagement, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the nature of sacramental marriage. 

You see, when you’re planning a wedding (still can’t believe I am, to be honest), you naturally have to prioritize every part of the day: the ceremony, the reception, who you’re inviting, who's in your bridal party, etc. That alone is a difficult task, but doing it with your future spouse who has a whole different set of expectations, family, friends, and perspectives… let’s just say it takes a lot of grace.

Luckily, my fiancé and I have had life experiences that have led us to a lot of like-mindedness in regards to our wedding planning. This is a grace I do not take lightly, and am constantly thanking God for. But during our marriage preparation, our pastor said something that gave us an even clearer vision of what the Lord is desiring for our marriage, and our souls:

“Everyone says that the wedding is the most important day of your life, but it’s not. The most important day of your life was the day you were baptized.”

Now, this may seem controversial to a lot of people, and it certainly was a shock to us at first. I mean, all month long we had been told over and over again how important this sacrament was and how serious we needed to take its preparation; and now you’re saying it’s not even that important?

But then he told a story about Pope St. John Paul II. When JPII was elected pope, he took the traditional trip back to his home town in Poland and visited the parish he grew up in. Now, traditionally, the pope would go straight up to the altar, bow before the tabernacle, and pray, but JPII did something different. He walked in the church, took a b-line straight for the baptismal font, and then kissed it.

Shocked, his company asked him what he was doing—why didn't he go straight to the tabernacle and venerate the presence of God? JPII just looked at them and said, gesturing toward the baptismal font, “This is where my life began.”

You see, JPII recognized that without the graces received in Baptism, he would never have been a son of God; would have never been a priest; would have never been Pope John Paul II. That day was the start of everything: his vocation, his identity, his salvation. 

And with that story, my fiancé and I started looking at everything so much clearer, including our own identities.

You see, this story—this idea that our baptismal day is the most important day of our lives—is such, such good news.

It means we are beloved sons and daughters of God forever.

It means we are eternally loved by our Creator, our Savior, our Father, our Lord.

It means that no matter what we do, no matter how far we stray from the Light, Jesus is always ready to forgive—always ready to redeem.

The lack of a wedding band does not alter your identity. 

The lack of a season does not take away your daughtership. 

The lack of any worldly thing—no matter how good and blessed it is—will never diminish the Father’s love for you.

This is why marriage does not “fix” your wounds. This is why consecrated men and women still need the Lord’s guidance in their ministry. This is why our vocations are not the destination, but instead a tool to help us reach Heaven.

A wedding, an ordination, a consecration, or the lack of any of these—it’s not important. What’s important is that by our baptisms, God has claimed us as His own, and that’s a title we’ll never lose.