I too, watched, without the slightest twinge of an uneasy conscience, one of the most fascinating television presentations that I have ever watched.

I sent texts to many of my friends in the dead of night, which, alas, mostly went unanswered.

In the morning, of course, there was a flood of replies proffering a multitude of excuses, but, sadly, the moment had passed.

The week culminating in the actual ceremony was a live update in the social changes that we are passing through, reflected through the lens of the Royal Family.

Before the day itself there was endless speculation about the dress Meghan might be wearing.

There were countless interviews with the beautiful and great.

There were stone by stone tours of the Windsor chapel in which the ceremony would take place.

There was a painfully complete tour of the route the various transports, ancient and modern, would take.

But there was not a word about the significance of the ceremony itself and the fact that it would be a religious ceremony with both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the retired bishop of London leading it.

The Royal family has a unique role in the modern world.

It is, like it or not, a setter of standards, one of the yardsticks against which modern behaviour is measured.

Our society professes to have left behind the superstitions of the past, among which the Christian faith and two of its great exponents, Anglicanism and Catholicism, are in the forefront and firing line.

Yet the Royal Family has a key role in the Anglican branch of Christianity.

We say it is mostly symbolic, but I'm sure the Queen would not agree with that.

Her Christian faith is part of the warp and woof of her life.

It is the wellspring from which her values arise and it is there for all to see.

It would have been interesting to have had an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, himself a most interesting faith figure.

An ex-banker, he is part of a modern world that the media tries to ignore or put down - the religious aspect. But it bobs up again - because, like it or not, it's part of our world.

He would have contributed something well worth thinking about on the question of the Royals and contemporary faith.

So, in spite of every effort to ignore the elephant in the room, there it was. Windsor Chapel itself is glorious.

• Every inch of its interior breathes faith, breathes with the life imparted to it by hundreds of years of believers.
• The beauty of its panelling.
• The ethereal atmosphere of the choir - even to their tunics and surplices, which themselves evoke another world of which this one is a portal.
• The banners of the Knights of the Garter, whose home chapel is Windsor, are themselves enough to make one catch ones breath.
• The atmosphere of the ceremony was reverential.
• The reading was well chosen.
• People were in the presence of God, present in His Word.

The sermon was outstanding - the significance of having an Afro-American bishop communicating in a charismatic register perhaps unheard until then in that chapel - all things conspired to deliver a truly religious experience for all privileged enough to participate bodily or through the marvel of modern media.

And finally, the couple themselves.

Not to mention the mother of the bride, not only visibly proud to be at such a landmark event, but herself quite clearly a woman of insight, a mother who has brought her daughter up to have a social conscience.

We live in a world of falsehood.

Fake news pretends to abhor war, while the countries of origin of this news expand their munitions factories.

Politicians are cowed into keeping quiet about the necessity of provoking war in order to use these munitions, so that more can be manufactured.

But beauty has a way of winning through.

It exposes falsehood and fakery.

And for a moment, last Saturday night, the beauty that comes from the union of the religious transcendence expressed in stone, wood, choirs and the Word of God, shone through.

• Michael Mahoney is a Marist, mountainer and parish priest of South Westland.

Yes, the wedding was a "who's who" and fashionista's delight.

But it was the address and the animated picture of Bishop Michael Curry, the first black presiding bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church which endures for me.

The cultural clash was palpable.

Some of the Royals smiled widely, others shuffled in their seats.

At one point, Singer, James Blunt reportedly called out "Amen".

And even Sir Elton John, who prior to the start of the service, was seen kissing another man in the church, looked puzzled at the message of love.

Some say Bishop Curry spoke too long, however there were few 'glazed eyes', people were listening.

Love's power

Putting aside people's reactions, I'm left scratching my head asking; "when did I last see so much press coverage of a sermon at a wedding?"

It's my experience, the one constant when watching wedding videos is whoever has the remote, come the sermon, they ‘fast forward'.

Yet YouTube is flooded with people listening and watching again Bishop Curry's message of love.

"There's power in love."

"Don't underestimate it.

"Don't even over-sentimentalise it," Bishop Curry said.

Whether frowning, smiling or politely holding back a laugh, people's reactions showed love's power.

Some cried.

"There's a certain sense in which when you are loved, and you know it, when someone cares for you, and you know it, when you love and you show it - it actually feels right.

"There is something right about it. And there's a reason for it. The reason has to do with the source. We were made by a power of love, and our lives were meant - and are meant - to be lived in that love. That's why we are here.

"Ultimately, the source of love is God himself: the source of all of our lives. There's an old medieval poem that says: 'Where true love is found, God himself is there'.

Bishop Curry continued, "There's power in love to help and heal when nothing else can.

"There's power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will.

"There's power in love to show us the way to live.

"There's power in love to help and heal when nothing else can."

The passionate preacher challenged Harry and Meghan, well known for their charitable works, and all of us, to "Think and imagine a world where love is the way."

"Imagine our homes and families where love is the way...

"Imagine governments and nations where love is the way…

"When love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again.

"When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside, to study war no more," he said.

Reality hits

Let's face it, the guest list was a mix of ‘A-listers' from both sides of the Atlantic.

Success, opportunity, power; no one in the congregation would wonder where their next meal is coming from or whether they can meet the rent.

Very unlike some fairly new New Zealand citizens, friends of mine whom I'd not seen for a little while and who called to see me on Saturday.

She was on ‘cloud nine' because after four attempts she finally got her driver's licence; enabling her to continue working, helping feed the family, pay the rent, electricity, school fees…

When they left, going home to watch the Royal Wedding, it was as though, "who needed a car, I'm flying".

Then Sunday, a phone call.

Some lousy soul threw a large stone and smashed their street-front window.

How totally loveless.

It's easy to fix a window, but they're left shattered, a little scared, feeling unloved in their new country.

Quoting from a spiritual song, Bishop Curry said: "If you cannot preach like Peter, and you cannot pray like Paul, you just tell the love of Jesus, how he died to save us all."

Telling the love of Jesus is often best done with actions, not by throwing stones.

In among the abundance of love on display during the ceremony was Harry's "thanks pa" to Charles for escorting his bride to the altar, the look Harry gave Meghan as she arrived, departures from protocol; Harry wearing a wedding ring and Harry and Meghan's kiss on the Church steps, etc.

Another, and one of my abiding memories, a tangible expression of love, was that huge former England outside centre, a brute of a rugby player, Mike Tindall, in public and with 2 billion people watching, turn to lovingly massage his heavily pregnant wife.

"We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only way." Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

• John Murphy is a Marist priest working in communications and new media.
• Image: ManPost