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First Reading: Ephesians 5:21-33
Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the Church,
he himself the savior of the Body.
As the Church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the Church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the Church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of his Body.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.
In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,
and the wife should respect her husband.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R./ Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the Lord,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R./ Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R./ Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R./ Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Gospel Reading: Lk 13:18-21
Jesus said, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed and planted it in the garden. The seed has grown and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches."
And Jesus said again, "What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast and hidden it in three measures of flour until it is all leavened."
Opening Prayer
Lord God,
source and model of all love,
you cause the paths of life
of men and women to cross
and to discover one another
as partners in life.
May their love be genuine and creative
and strong enough to survive
the differences and trials
that are part of life.
Let it be patient, understanding,
forgiving and lasting,
as is the love that you have shown us
in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction
Each sacrament is a sharing in the paschal mystery of Christ, a dying and rising in the new life of Christ. So is marriage. Genuine love in marriage is a reflection of Christ's love—with each partner living the life of Christ, dying to selfishness, rising to deeper, creative and serving love. Ephesians says that the marriage covenant reflects the love of God for his people and at the same time, the love of Christ for his Church. Then, under the influence of the socio-cultural thinking and structures of his time, he continues to draw a parallel between Christ as head of his Church and the husband as the head of his wife and the family, a parallel which is hard to accept in contemporary thought.
Gospel Introduction
The kingdom of God must grow among us, like a seed growing into a tree, like flour transformed into bread by the yeast. But growth means change and going ahead, marching forward, and this cannot happen without change and saying goodbye to the past and even to the present, to walk forward in hope toward the future. This brings the pain of separation, of giving up something familiar, but also the joy of knowing that we are on the way with the Lord.
General Intercessions
– For the Church, the bride of Christ, that she may always be faithful to the message of the Gospel and the liberating love of Christ, we pray:
– For homes built on unselfish love, that through them, we may understand better all the depth of God's love, we pray:
– For the young preparing for marriage, that they may learn from life that the depth and beauty of love rest on generosity and sharing, we pray;
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
bread tastes good
and wine rejoices
when they are shared
as signs of friendship and love.
Break for us the bread of life
and pour for us the wine of happiness
of Jesus, your Son,
that your people may bear together
the burdens of life
and share its joys
by the strength of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
you have renewed in this Eucharist
your covenant of love with your people.
In the name of this covenant, we ask of you:
let all love among us
and the union of marriage
between husbands and wives
reflect a bit the tender warmth,
the respect and the inventive ways
of your love for us.
Keep loving us in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Marriage is a great mystery of love. Love is not mere sentiments, not just feelings, but the giving of oneself. It is patterned after the love of Christ, who gave himself and did not measure his love. He simply gave himself to us. May our married couples also give themselves to one another and to their children, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
