Adam opted to serve the meat over pasta and added shredded parmesan cheese to the top of it all for the finishing touch. I remember coming home from work to the savory aroma of the Chicken Marsala waiting on the dinner table and diving in to the dish and feeling my stomach rumble in hunger.
I thoroughly enjoyed the meal but Adam would have liked for the sauce to be thicker and wondered if perhaps he had let it sit for a bit longer if it would have thickened up some more as he recalled from his Dad's recipe.
My favorite part of the meal was the addition of the prosciutto to the meal! This is a new food for me as I discovered it in spring 2015 when I tried it on some fancy grilled cheese sandwiches thanks to a recipe from Emily Stimpson. If I were to follow this Chicken Marsala recipe in the future, I would probably double or triple the amount of prosciutto simply because I liked the taste of it mixed in with the sauce, chicken, and pasta so much.
The other day I took a road trip to Columbus with two of my former students to accompany them to a conference and to present my research. On the way back, talk came up of weddings due to a friend of theirs getting married this weekend. Thinking back on our own wedding, the readings and gospel have been playing in my mind. I will share these in the next couple Meals as a Mrs. blog postings so here is the First Reading from our Wedding Mass that my Aunt Marie read.
1 John 4: 7 - 21
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whome he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
~ Growing up, we had a colored pencil drawing of three children walking on a path (I used to pretend it was of my older brother, twin, and me) with the words, "I am...because of love", printed at the top. I remember in high school when some of my older brother's friends came over, I overheard some of the boys laughing over the picture but I always loved the image and meaning behind it. When I hear the above first reading I think of that picture that still hangs in my parents' home today. We are here because of God and because of the love of our parents. God loved us into existing and through mutual self-giving to one another children are born and we all have the gift of life through every breath we take while here.
What are we doing with our lives? Are we using them to tear others down or are we building one another and lifting each other up in prayer? Are our actions and words showing love? So often, people make assumptions and buy into stereotypes (this came up during some of the conversations around identity in my presentation the other day) but are we really taking the time to listen to and observing what it is others are doing/saying/putting out there in our everday encounters?
Finally, the part about fear in this passage makes me think of how one must let go of the fears and trust to truly believe in love. Thinking back on Adam's and my story I'm still amazed at what Adam has done in the name of love. He bought a house on the other side of the country from where he was living, sight unseen, based on my visits to it (and my cousin's input who served as an informal inspector for us). He left all that was familiar and known to him to explore uncharted territory with me. I took my job even though it was in a less than ideal location because I trusted it was where the Lord was steering me. The biggest challenge/fear for me right now is leaning into knowing God will provide for our family even though the plans we had hoped to fulfill for our family were rocked in a major way. I'm learning to let go of what once was and to now look forward with optimism as we're recreating our plans now wondering what the future will look like. As John reminds us above perfect love drives out fear. God got us this far so why should I fear in His plan now? He will carry us through and I'm so thankful to have Adam, and others, to lean on right now. My only hope is that I can serve as a beacon of light and support to others as so many have been doing for me over the last couple months. ~
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