"Stop! I object!"

Everyone turned to look at the man who had just run in and shouted. Time seemed to stop and no one seemed to know how to react. How often does someone actually object after the priest asks if anyone does?

The bride broke the silence and asked the man, "What are you doing here?"

"Don’t marry him. I love you, you should be with me."

That made the bride smile.

The groom turned from the man to look at his bride and noticed the smile. He did the opposite and frowned.

Looking at the groom, the bride said, "I’m sorry." And with that, she ran off with the other man.

The groom, left at the altar, could do nothing but stare as his bride ran out of the church. Everyone else broke out into loud chatter. The priest reached out a hand and put it on the groom’s shoulder.

That was a couple of hours ago. After all the initial hoopla, things calmed down a bit. Everyone paid their respects to the groom and left as discretely as possible. Left all alone, the groom sat in one of the front pews of the church. He stared intently at the crucifix as if waiting for the image of Jesus to give him some sort of consolation.

The priest, having changed out of his robes and preparing to leave the church, noticed the groom. Feeling great sympathy for him, the priest walked over and sat down next to him.

"Are you okay, son?"

After a bit of silence, the groom answered, "I guess."

"You guess?"

The groom turned to look at the priest. "Sorry Father. I just feel really numb right now."

The priest nodded.

"I mean, at first, I was really shocked and depressed and angry, but I’ve been sitting here asking God why he did this. Now, I just feel really numb about it."

"I know this isn’t going to be very much comfort, but I’m sure this happened for a reason. God will reveal it eventually."

The groom smiled halfway. "You’re right . . . that wasn’t comforting." He turned to stare at the crucifix again. "I thought she was THE one, Father. I’ve never felt a love like this before for anyone. It was like violins were playing all the time in the background, and the world was right. That’s why we decided to get married on Valentines Day, because this felt like the real thing."

"I know. From what I saw of your counseling sessions, you two seemed to be going in the right direction."

"So what happened?"

The priest shook his head. "No one knows that but her."

The groom lowered his eyes. "I can’t believe that other guy said he loved her. He could never love her the way I do."

"You have to remember, my son, that the word love is one those words that is thrown around all too often nowadays."

The groom turned to face the priest. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there are really two different kinds of love out there. First is the attractive, romantic type of love. It feels great and it’s like you see in the movies and on TV shows. It’s very dramatic. But this is really only infatuation. True love isn’t like that at all."

"It’s not?"

The priest shook his head. "I’ve counseled many couples before you two, who were all in the lovey-dovey mode of love when they first got married. But what separates the ones who stay together from the ones who don’t is true love. You see, with true love, things aren’t great all the time, that’s an illusion. There will be fights and other things that will make couples want to break up. But if they truly love each other, they work through the rough patches."

"She and I had our rough moments too, and we worked through them. But she still ran off."

"Sadly, not very many people know what true love is. She could’ve found that romantic love again with that other man and thought that was true love."

The groom shook his head. "That hurts."

"I’m sorry, son. The best advice I can give you at this point is to ask God for the strength to forgive her and move on."

"Yeah right, how am I suppose to do that?"

The priest smiled. "With faith, hope, and of course, love. You still love her, right?"

"I suppose so. But what’s love? After all you told me, I’m not sure anymore."

The priest nodded. "You need only to look at God. He gave His son Jesus to us so we can have eternal life, right?"

The groom nodded.

"Just think, after all that happened, after all the times mankind deserved to be wiped out, God still did that for us. He knew we still might not get the idea, and if you look at what’s going on, many of us didn’t. But God still sent His only son to die for us. You know why?"

"Love?"

"Right, love. He loves us, no matter what. In the end, God wants us to be happy. When you feel the same way about a person, that’s true love."

The groom nodded. "I do want her to be happy, I just thought it would be with me. Guess that’s not going to happen."

The priest put his hand on the groom’s shoulder. "You’ll be okay, son. Trust me. Everything will work out somehow."

"All I have to do is have faith, hope, and love, right?"

The priest smiled, "Now you’re learning."

The groom stood up, as did the priest. They shook hands.

"Thanks Father, I feel a little better now."

"Anytime son. If you need anything, just ask God. For anything else, give me a call."

The groom smiled. "Will do."

Both of them walked out of the church.