i knew i liked them. they picked the beatitudes for their gospel lesson. very socially justice minded and all that. but here’s what gets me. on the biggest day of their young lives (they’re just 22), they had the presence of mind to go to my favorite pie place in all of chicago, first slice, and get my favorite pie–chocolate peanut butter (i don’t even like peanut butter pie, but this one is so damn good that it makes me believe that God is real and created peanuts for this very cause). anyway…in the middle of their wedding reception there is this pause and they bring out a pie with a candle and everybody sings happy birthday for me. it was delightful. priests bitch a lot about doing weddings because they can become such self-centered, non-gospel oriented affairs. and not that singing happy birthday to the priest is a marker of the gospel, but it was really nice to see such warmth and thought for others (me) in the midst of the beauty of this day of sacrament.