A Moment Bigger Than a Church: Welcoming a New Light

At My SF Wedding, we celebrate love in all its forms. Today, I’m sharing a reflection on a historic moment of hope and renewal — the same spirit that inspires every celebration of life and love.

We believe every love story is a new beginning — and this reflection honors a moment of hope, unity, and renewal, the very spirit we celebrate in every wedding, every baptism and every celebration of life.

A New Light ~ In the ONE, we are one

Today, history quietly turns a page — not only for the Catholic Church, but for humanity itself. We have witnessed the rise of the first American Pope, Leo XIV, at a time when so much feels uncertain, broken, exhausted.

But this is not a time of endings.
It is a time of purification, not annihilation.
It is a time to burn away what is false,
and to shine even brighter with what is true.

Pope Leo XIV stands not just for one faith or one tradition, but for a deeper, older hope we all carry:
That even when the night is longest,
even when the stones crack and the old ways crumble,
the Light is never truly extinguished.

This moment invites all of us — whatever our path, whatever our beliefs —
to soften our hearts, to listen, to dream again.
To believe that healing is possible.
That what is ancient can be renewed.
That what is broken can still blossom into something sacred.

We stand on holy ground —
not because it is easy,
but because it is real.

And so, we lift our eyes.
We breathe deeply.
We hold hands across all divisions.
And we walk together into the New Dawn.

🌿 A Blessing for This Moment

May the fire of truth burn away all that is false.
May the light of love heal all that is wounded.
May we walk with courage into the unknown,
holding one another with fierce and gentle hope.

May this new dawn find us ready —
to forgive,
to rebuild,
to dream again.

Ema Drouillard, Obl O.S.B.

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Heart of the Dawn

In the stillness before the bells,
where the first light bends low to the earth,
a heart awakens — not for the first time,
but as one who remembers being called by name.

Once, a whisper shaped you,
fashioned your vow from the breath of Love;
once, you placed your hands upon the altar,
and your life poured out like oil from a broken jar.

Today, the heavens tilt —
a new voice rises upon Peter’s Chair,
and you, beloved, rise again inside:
you, too, are called to begin.

Not to undo the journey,
nor to retreat from what has been,
but to step again into the living stream
where promises are still alive.

O Heart, you are not old —
you are the green shoot breaking from winter soil,
the candle relit from an ancient flame.

Living from the heart, from Divine Love,
you move with the tide of eternity,
your steps both new and known.

Sing now, out of the abundance,
out of the fullness that only years can give:
Sing with the sure mouth of wisdom,
and the soft tongue of peace.

You are child of the Heart—
of the silence that speaks,
of the Love that overflows,
of the dawn that has no end.

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