Last week, I heard this familiar Bible verse again during a wedding ceremony: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
I was one of the principal sponsors. The groom is also my godchild and I was still single then. So the last time I saw him was when he was baptized as an infant. Imagine my pleasant surprise to see him so grown up! What happened to the years in between? That’s why I was thankful to his mother for asking me to stand as a wedding sponsor.
I realize the important role of parents to reach out to the godparents of their children. I once did that. During my daughter’s 18th birthday, I exerted effort to find her baptismal godparents so she can see them personally now that she was grown up.
Back to the wedding I attended. There were some unique things I witnessed. The priest required the couple to look into each other’s eyes when saying their wedding vows. It should be this way all their life, the priest said. Spouses should not let their eyes from each other to avoid temptation.
During the offertory, the couple was made to stand up and receive first the offerings so they could hand these over to the priest, a symbol of their commitment to acknowledge God’s role in all the blessings they will be receiving in their married life.
A big candle was lit for the couple all throughout the ceremony. The priest told them to keep this candle and every year, during their wedding anniversary, to light it and say their vows all over again.
After 25 years, the priest told the couple they should return to this church and present the candle again as a sign of a solid marriage. And he expects the same thing to be done during the couple’s golden anniversary even if they may already be in wheelchairs or holding canes. “Sadly, some of us may not live to reach that day,” he joked.
The priest admonished the couple to stay faithful to their vows and to stay together no matter what. Nothing should come in the way to break this unity. Precisely what the Holy Bible says: “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
It is a marriage contract, an agreement, a covenant instituted more than 2000 years ago. I did a little research. I found out that “covenant” is “berith” in Hebrew which means “to cut.” A blood covenant was a formal, solemn, and binding agreement—a vow or pledge—between two parties made by “cutting” or dividing of animals into two parts.
About.com tells us that “in Genesis 15:9-10, the blood covenant began with the sacrifice of animals. After splitting them precisely in half, the animal halves were arranged opposite each other on the ground, leaving a pathway between them. The two parties making the covenant would walk from either end of the path, meeting in the middle.
The meeting ground between the animal pieces was regarded as holy ground. There the two individuals would cut the palms of their right hands and then join these hands together as they mutually pledged a vow, promising all of their rights, possessions, and benefits to the other. Next, the two would exchange their belt and outer coat, and in so doing, take some part of the other person’s name.”
It is ironic that covenant means “cut” when marriage is the sacrament that God has joined together and “no human being must separate.”
Sad to say, in this century, marriages are being cut not to show faithfulness but to mean physical separation.
June is around the corner. It’s considered the wedding month. I wish well for all couples tying the knot. It is a beautiful experience. I’d love to witness another one because every time I am at a wedding, it’s like I witness God’s love for all of us – a wedding of faithfulness, a covenant of love.
I pray we can keep our marriage on this ground…for as long as we can…till death do us part.