Renewal of vows

Sunday morning, we got to church even earlier than usual to talk to Father about the renewal of vows. He had told us that it could be either during Mass or right after, but since it was a special anniversary he would love to do it during. So we met with him and learned that he wanted to segue from the homily into the renewal - just be standing at the foot of the center aisle during the homily and he would call us up.
So we went on up to the choir loft and after the Gospel, we shrugged out of our choir robes and walked back down the stairs. Father gave an excellent homily on the gospel, especially about the true nature of love and the command to love and pray for all, including especially our enemies. I remember that he challenged us to pray for our enemies by asking "When was the last time you prayed for a terrorist?", and I found myself thinking about how St. Blog's has challenged me to live out the tenets of Christianity with courage, including praying for terrorists and abortionists, and all the other 'ists who make life terrible.
So we walked up that aisle and stood at the foot of the altar facing each other and holding hands. Father made a comment about "Thirty years, and they still look at each other and hold hands". He then read aloud a LONG exhortation about marriage and fidelity and added in some words of thanksgiving for the Christian witness that a marriage is. He pointed out that he was sure that we had had rough times in our marriage but that we had been able to utilize the graces of the Sacraments to keep it together (those weren't his exact words, though). He then invited us to repeat after him the words of our wedding vows, and we did that. We then walked back down that long aisle and disappeared back into the choir loft. After Mass, we had lots of parishioners stop us and say God Bless and Congratulations. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate this special event within the Sunday Mass in the Real Presence of Jesus.
My son took a picture as we walked back down the aisle. I will try to post it when I can get it to load to my computer.