A current ad from Levi's, the jeans company, runs lavishly across six full magazine pages. The final scene shows Andrea hugging an unnamed girlfriend. The . . . The message this ad coveys to young magazine readers is clear. Love doesn't last.
Relationships come and go.
Marriages don't last, either, not even your parents' marriage. The only thing that lasts in life is the brand name. Our actions this morning reply to that question in a language that is vastly older and immeasurably wiser than any words our culture offers. It is the language of sacrament, of simple elements that convey nothing less than the truth - the truth about God, about you and me, and about our life now and in the world to come. Water, bread, and wine - there is nothing inherently profound or even very remarkable about these three components of creation.