Bishop Barron on the Sacrament of Marriage

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well this a few weeks ago I had the
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great good pleasure of presiding at the
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wedding of my niece Brenna and her
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husband Nelson and it was a great joy
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because of course I've known Brenna all
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her life and she's always been a great
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person full of joy and cheerfulness and
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goodness and then Nelson have I known
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now for a couple years a very good man
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and also took the courageous step to
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become a Catholic in advance of this of
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this day so the two of them are a great
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couple
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everyone in the church was exalting in
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their and their goodness and just to see
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this young couple love terrific but the
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point I made in my homily was we're not
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here because here's this beautiful young
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couple and love because any romantic any
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secular romantic could look in and see
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the same thing we were gathered in
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church because we saw them with the eyes
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of faith and that means we saw them as a
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hint or a sign or an echo of God's love
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of Christ's love for the church you know
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it's a peculiarity of Catholic
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sacramental theology that a married
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couple don't so much receive a sacrament
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as they become a sacrament I just tell
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people when I was doing a parish work
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full time and I was working with young
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engaged couples at the time we were all
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about the same age I was in my like
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upper 20s at the time but I would always
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ask them at some point how come you guys
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want to get married in church and they'd
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usually say some version of well because
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we love each other and I would say well
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that's great I'm delighted you love each
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other but that's not reason to get
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married Church to be one love to get
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married under on the beach in front of
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the justice of the peace you get married
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in church when you're convinced that God
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has brought you together for His
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purposes so the people gathered the
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other day for my niece's wedding would
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say this young couple did not come
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together just by dumb chance but rather
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they were brought together by God's
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providence for God's purposes and that's
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what we were celebrating that day
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in church now to get a clearer sense of
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this I suggested in my homily that we
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should look with fresh eyes at the great
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story of the wedding feast at Cana so
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famously in John's Gospel the first sign
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the first miraculous sign that Jesus
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performs is not the raising of a dead
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it's not the comedy of a storm at sea
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it's not the healing of a blind person
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the first sign he performs is providing
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wine at a local wedding reception now
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every one of his brother has commented
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over the centuries how wonderful how
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charming that Jesus you know Stoops to
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do this very simple thing to help this
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distressed couple and sure I mean I
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won't deny that but I think we have to
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look a lot deeper because what we see
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there is this great motif of Jesus the
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bridegroom Jesus who is the God of
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Israel made flesh comes as the
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bridegroom to marry his people now to
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get that fully take a step back into the
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Old Testament look in the prophet Isaiah
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Isaiah relays this extraordinary line if
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you look in the history of religions and
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religious philosophy you won't see
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anything quite like it it seems to me
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when the God of Israel says or Isaiah
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says of him your builder wants to marry
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you
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now again I think spend a little time
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even in prayer with that line your
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builder meaning the Creator the one who
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designed you and created you God wants
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to marry you now I mean every religion
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and religious philosophy will talk about
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God will talk about our relation to God
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following the demands of God all of that
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but here we've got the distinctively
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biblical approach that God wants to
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marry us that means to share his life
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with us in the most intimate life-giving
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faithful way possible when they were
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looking for the great metaphor for this
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faithful life-giving intensely personal
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love they reached for the metaphor of
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the wedding of the marriage
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your builder wants to marry you God
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wants to share his life utterly with us
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now press it in that same prophet Isaiah
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we hear that when the Messiah comes
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there'll be this great banquet the
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beautiful description on the holy
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mountain there'll be these fine meats
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served and then pure choice wine will be
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served and indeed we hear there'll be so
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much wine that the very hills will run
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with it okay okay
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against that background look again at
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the wedding feast of Cana you don't just
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have you know Jesus being a nice guy and
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helping out this young couple he is the
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God of Israel made flesh and he presents
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himself in his first sign as the
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bridegroom of his people mind you it was
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the responsibility of the bridegroom at
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a wedding reception to provide the wine
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which is why the steward when he taste
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the water made wine comes to the
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bridegroom he says hey what are you
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doing
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most people serve the the good wine
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first then when people have drunk a bit
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they serve the bad wine you've gone
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ahead and served the good wine last
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Jesus in other words is the definitive
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bridegroom come to marry his people
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another step we hear John gives us the
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details how much wine was made he said
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there were six stone jars each one
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holding about thirty gallons of water so
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Jesus makes a hundred and eighty gallons
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of wine what we're meant to see is the
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Isaiah prophecy has come true that when
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the bridegroom comes the Messiah the
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very hills will run with wine this is
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the full meaning it seems to me of the
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wedding feast at Cana and this is
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exactly what we're meant to see now in a
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married couple that's why we come into
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church we see them as a hint a sign a
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sacrament of that love just one last
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observation I mentioned how Jesus first
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great sign is turning water into wine
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now it's
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ordinary wonderful that is how
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symbolically resident it is but then at
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the wedding mass so after I finished the
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homily we move into the Liturgy of the
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Eucharist which culminates in what not
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just the transformation of water into
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wine as marvelous as that is but now the
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transformation of wine into the very
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blood of Jesus which will now be poured
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out on behalf of the people gathered
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there and even more extraordinary
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wedding banquet is being hosted by the
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Son of God right so every mass is not
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you know Robert Barron presiding at
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something it's Christ I'm acting simply
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in Persona Christi in the person of
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Christ its Christ hosting a banquet at
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which he is serving his very body and
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blood acting as the bridegroom come to
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marry his people that's what we see
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that's what we see whenever two people
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get married in church and that is reason
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to celebrate
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[Music]
The Light of Faith: The Sacrament of Matrimony

hello there this is actually shapes of

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media gasps greeting you from the
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Archdiocese sibling in the group and
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welcoming you to the light of faith
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the question for today is about the
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sacrament of matrimony
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we Filipinos have attended many weddings
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we have attended many ceremonies of
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matrimony and we hardly understand what
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the ceremonies represent for us what are
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the symbolisms when we get married in
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the church in the Philippines first and
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foremost the first symbol is the couple
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themselves this man this woman marching
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up the aisle are signs of the presence
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of God in us that is why the bride verse
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wife and the groom is dressed in the
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best that we can because both of them
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are signs and Jesus in our Christian
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community and then the symbol is
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extended into the words they will say
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yes the most important word is yes but
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the yes was not first uttered by the
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couple the first one to say yes is Jesus
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he said yes to us even before we were
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born even before we were conceived in
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our mother's womb and then we have the
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wedding ceremony itself there is the
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wedding ring a ring is always round it
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has no beginning it has to end such
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should be your love for one another such
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should be our love for one another it
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has no beginning it has to end the
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greatest measure of love is to love
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without measure the second the next
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symbol is the Veil the veil is always
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white white is the color of purity and
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even if there are two persons getting
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married a man and a woman there is only
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one veil because the veil symbolizes
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unity the first time we were dressed in
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white was when we were baptized
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the church clothes us in white society
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find you beginning matrimony is
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something like a new beginning
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that is right the man and the woman are
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dressed in white once again symbolizing
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a fresh sight the veil covers the head
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of the woman while the veil covers the
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shoulders of the man why because they
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are only one body if there is only one
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body there is only one head and the head
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of that family is the man is the husband
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because a body that has two heads is a
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monster so it is the duty of the wife to
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respect the headship of the husband as
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Christ is the head of the church and
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then we will put the cord over the veil
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the cord is a youghal the the cord is
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like a yoke that we used to put on the
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car a bow or the cow when the users and
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the must apply the film's if you put the
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yoke and the caribou or the cow on
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yourself you're going to feel its weight
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because it is heavy such is love such is
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married life sometimes it can be heavy
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sometimes it can be burdensome but we
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have we can look forward to a life of
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bliss life of blessings because those
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who live in love live in God there comes
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a time maybe a brothers and sisters
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especially the married couples here when
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looking at their wedding pictures no
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longer excites us but brings us a lump
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in the throat or brings tears into our
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eyes when that time comes remember that
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sometimes love can be a burden
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life can be across the carry but it is
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light it is light and it is bearable
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because Jesus will carry it for us
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in the Philippines the man and the woman
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are given re by the priest re are
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actually coins science and prosperity it
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is put on the two hands of the groom and
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then the bride receives it with her both
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hands also it is a symbol of prosperity
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coming from God it is also a symbol of
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the Providence that the husband accepts
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and the husband promises to give the
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wife and the children that God will give
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them my dear brothers and sisters in
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Christ the next time you attend a
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wedding remember the love of the groom
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for the bride is a symbol of the love of
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Jesus for all of us
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that is why my dear husband's my dear
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future husbands may the groom's please
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remember when you are up there in the
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altar
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you are a sign of God's love the love of
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Christ for the church and be careful
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that you say be careful with what you do
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be careful with your thoughts because
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your thoughts your actions your life
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should be that of Christ it is very
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difficult to stay focused and prayerful
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and reflective during the wedding right
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because the camera is always watching
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the photographers are always watching
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but I encourage you stay focused and
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appreciate each and every part of the
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wedding ritual because this ritual will
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carry you through into your life into
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your life together lastly my dear
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brothers and sisters in Christ when a
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man and a woman get married their
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commitment is to be Saints together they
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must be Saints together and make their
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children Saints together with them the
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call to matrimony is a vocation of God I
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was called to be a priest some are
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called to be husbands some are called to
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be wives some are called to be nuns but
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we all have different location
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the Lord but we have only one vocation
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as a husband be holy as a wife be holy
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as a priest be holy a salon be holy
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because holiness is the call for all of
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us my dear brothers and sisters in
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Christ
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let us pray for all married couples and
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let us pray that all married couples
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follow Jesus and embrace the path of
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holiness
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thank you for being with us at the light
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of faith and let us proceed to pray for
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each other
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let us continue to pursue the path of
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holiness