Holy Matrimony of Chuan Rong & Kerin 16 December 2023 1
ENTRANCE HYMN COME TO THE RIVER 2
COME TO THE RIVER Refrain Come to the river, children of light. Bathe and be born in the glory of Christ. Out of his side a fountain of grace, Waters of healing through ev’ry age. Come to the river (1/11)
Verse 1 I’ll gather you in from far distant lands; with joy I welcome you home, the flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone. Come, Beloved of God! Come to the river (2/11)
Refrain Come to the river, children of light. Bathe and be born in the glory of Christ. Out of his side a fountain of grace, Waters of healing through ev’ry age. Come to the river (3/11)
Verse 2 I’ll give you a land where honey will flow, and peace will shelter your hearts, where hunger is fed, and justice shall reign. Come, Beloved of God! Come to the river (4/11)
Refrain Come to the river, children of light. Bathe and be born in the glory of Christ. Out of his side a fountain of grace, Waters of healing through ev’ry age. Come to the river (5/11)
Verse 3 I’ll shatter with love the stone of your heart, and make it tender once more. With kindness and truth, I’ll ravish your soul. Come, Beloved of God! Come to the river (6/11)
Refrain Come to the river, children of light. Bathe and be born in the glory of Christ. Out of his side a fountain of grace, Waters of healing through ev’ry age. Come to the river (7/11)
Verse 4 I’ll wash you in joy with motherly care, and make you bright as the snow. My hand will remove the stain of your sin. Come, Beloved of God! Come to the river (8/11)
Refrain Come to the river, children of light. Bathe and be born in the glory of Christ. Out of his side a fountain of grace, Waters of healing through ev’ry age. Come to the river (9/11)
Verse 5 I’ll give you a name of favor and grace, and bless the works of your hands. All nations will see my glory and might. Come, Beloved of God! Come to the river (10/11)
Refrain Come to the river, children of light. Bathe and be born in the glory of Christ. Out of his side a fountain of grace, Waters of healing through ev’ry age. Come to the river (11/11)
GREETING Celebrant: In the name of the Father, ☩ and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen. 14
GREETING Celebrant: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. All: And with your spirit. 15
GREETING Celebrant: Chuan Rong & Kerin, the Church shares your joy and warmly welcomes you, together with your families and friends, as today, in the presence of God our 16
Father, you establish between yourselves a lifelong partnership. May the Lord hear you on this your joyful day. May he send you help from heaven and protect you. May he grant you your hearts’ desire and fulfil every one of your prayers. 17
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. GLORIA 18
We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father. GLORIA 19
Lord Jesus Christ, Only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; GLORIA 20
you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. GLORIA 21
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High,Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. GLORIA 22
Celebrant: Let us pray. Be attentive to our prayers, O Lord, and in Your kindness uphold what You have established for the increase of the human race, so that the union You have created COLLECT 23
may be kept safe by Your assistance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. All: Amen. 24
LITURGY OF THE WORD Please be seated. 25
FIRST READING A reading from the Book of Genesis 1:26-28,31a God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the 26
sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth.’ God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them, 27
saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living animals on the earth.’ God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. 28
The word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God. 29
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Response: Loving and forgiving are You, O Lord; slow to anger, rich in kindness, loving and forgiving are You. 30
All my being, bless the Lord, bless the holy name of God. All my being, bless the Lord, remembering the goodness of God. Response: Loving and forgiving are You, O Lord; slow to anger, rich in kindness, loving and forgiving are You. 31
God forgives us all our sins, healing those who live in pain; Saving us from final death, God fills us with goodness and love. Response: Loving and forgiving are You, O Lord; slow to anger, rich in kindness, loving and forgiving are You. 32
Good and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger, rich in love. God remembers not our sin, forgiving and loving is God. Response: Loving and forgiving are You, O Lord; slow to anger, rich in kindness, loving and forgiving are You. 33
As heaven soars above the earth, so great the love of God for us. As far as east is from the west, the Lord takes our sins from us. Response: Loving and forgiving are You, O Lord; slow to anger, rich in kindness, loving and forgiving are You. 34
SECOND READING A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 5:2a, 25-32 Follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place. Husbands should love their wives 35
just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her in the water with a form of words so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy 36
and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that the 37
way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body – and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. 38
This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church. The word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God. 39
ALLELUIA Please Stand. 40
Alleluia! Alleluia! May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made both heaven and earth. Alleluia! 41
Celebrant: The Lord be with you. All: And with your spirit. 42
GOSPEL A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 19:3-6 All: Glory to you, O Lord. 43
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He answered ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male 44
and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no long two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’ 45
The Gospel of the Lord. All: Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ. 46
HOMILY Please be seated. 47
Please be seated. 48 THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE
Celebrant: Dearly beloved, you have come together here before a minister of the Church and in the presence of the community so that your intention to enter into Marriage 49
with a sacred seal, and your love be enriched with his blessing, so that you may have the strength to be faithful to each other for ever and to assume all the responsibilities of married life. 50