Good afternoon. We are here for the wedding of Michael and Melissa. We have an opening prayer, the first reading, the second reading, the Gospel, a homily, the marriage ceremony, the blessing and the exchange of the rings, the unity candle, the petitions, and the Final Blessing.
Opening Prayer p. 38A
Let us pray:
[pause for some moments of silence]
Father, you have made the bond of marriage a holy mystery,
a symbol of Christ’s love for his Church.
Hear our prayers for Michael and Melissa.
With faith in you and in each other they pledge their love today.
May their lives always bear witness to the reality of that love.
We ask this though our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. R. Amen.
The first reading:
Gen. 2:18-25.
Then the LORD GOD said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the LORD GOD formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD GOD caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD GOD had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said:
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.”
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
A Hymn
The second reading:
1 Cor. 13:1-13:
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude, It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully,even as I have been fully known. And now, faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
The Gospel:
The Lord be with you. R. And also with you.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew {Matthew 18:16-20].
[Jesus said] “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Michael and Melissa, brothers ands sisters in Christ:
When I read the words of the marriage vow, Mike and Melissa will hold hands. But not alone. When I read those words, every couple in the Church will reach out to join hands. For those who have received the sacrament of marriage are not alone. For they have God with them. That is God's promise: “[I tell you that] where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” All married couples in the Catholic Church are married in God's name.
Michael and Melissa, when they stand together, you stand together in God's name, and God is there with you. And not only God, not only Jesus Christ, but also every other married couple in the Catholic Church is with you. Your parents are with you. Your married brothers and sisters are with you. And just as all deceased members of the Church are one in the holy body of the Church, so too your grandparents and great-grandparents and their ancestors back to the beginning of time are with you.
Michael and Melissa, from this day forward, you will grow together, like two vines side by side, wrapping around each other, one day one stronger, the next day the other stronger, but always together, with God, both stronger.
Prayer is available to you. The Church and the Church’s great prayer, the Mass, is available to you. Every married couple will look to you for sustenance for support and you will look to them for sustenance, for support, they are with you, and you are with them.
Open your hearts and prepare for God's blessing. I bless you in the name, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
RITE OF MARRIAGE p. 23-26.
BLESSING AND EXCHANGE OF RINGS (in a dish, sprinkle holy water)
Unity Candle
Petitions
Final Blessing p. 84
The couple goes to the Blessed Virgin at the head of the stairs.
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