"what
God has united, man must not divide"
Some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, to test him, May a man divorce his wife for any reason whatever?" He replied, "Have you not read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and declared, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become as one'? Thus they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, let no man separate what God has joined."
"May
God bring us to old age together. "
On the wedding night, Sarah got up, and she and Tobiah started to pray and beg that deliverance might be theirs. He began with these words: "Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam, and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support, and from these two the human race descended. You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone, let us make him a partner like himself.' Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age."
Responsorial Psalm by Maurice Fabros
"Let
all praise the name of the Lord"
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights; Praise Him, all you His angels, praise Him, all you His hosts.
Praise
Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him, you highest
heavens, and you waters above the heavens.
You mountains and all you hills, you fruit trees and all you cedars; You wild beasts and all tame animals, you creeping things and you winged fowl.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples, the princes and all the judges of the earth, Young men too, and maidens, old men and boys.
Praise
the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His majesty is above
earth and heaven, and He has lifted up the horn of His people.
Second Reading by Jemima Marie Santos
"This mystery has many implications, and I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church."
Letter of Paul to the Ephesians (5:2, 21-33).
Follow
the way of love, even as Christ loved you. He gave himself for us.
Defer to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be submissive to their husbands as if to the Lord because the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of His body the Church, as well as its Savior. As the Church submits to Christ, so wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church. He gave himself up for her to make her holy, purifying her in the bath of water by the power of the word, to present to Himself a glorious Church, holy and immaculate, without stain or wrinkle or anything of that sort. Husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Observe that no one ever hates his own flesh; no, he nourishes it and takes care of it as Christ cares for the Church -- for we are members of His body.
"For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cling to his wife, and the two shall be made into one."
This is a great foreshadowing; I mean that it refers to Christ and the Church. In any case, each one should love his wife as he loves himself, the wife for her part showing respect for her husband.
"God
is love and out of the fullness of his love sent His Son to spread this love
among men"
