C. New Testament Readings (2nd Reading)

1. Romans 8:31-35.37-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed inter­cedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.   

2. Romans 12:1-2.9-18

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, acceptable to God.

I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.

This is the word of the Lord. People. Thanks be to God.

3. 1 Corinthians 6:13-15.17-20

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? He who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

4. 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8

If I have not love, I gain nothing.

Earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

5. Ephesians 5:2.21-33   

This is a great mystery, and I take it to mean Christ and the church.

Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in every­thing to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.' This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church however, let each one of you love his wife as him­self, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

6. Colossians 3:12-17

Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, com­passion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admon­ish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do every­thing in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

7. 1 Peter 3:1- 9

All of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren.

Wives, be submissive to your husbands, so that some, though they do not obey the word, may be won without a word by the behaviour of their wives, when they see your reverent and chaste behaviour. Let not yours be the out­ward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of robes, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. So once the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves and were submissive to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are now her children if you dp right and let nothing terrify you.

Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honour on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered.

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind. Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the con­trary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

8. 1 John 3:1 ft-24

Let us love in deed and in truth.

Little children,, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his command­ments and do what pleases him. And this is his command­ment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he had given us.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

9. John 4:7-11

God is love.

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Be­loved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

10. Apocalypse (Revelation) 19:1.5-9

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

I, John, heard what seemed to be the mighty voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying,

'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our

God.' And from the throne came a voice crying

“Praise our God, all you his servants

You who fear him, small and great”

. 'Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.'

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multi­tude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying,

'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride h as made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure' — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints

And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'

This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God

Back to Nuptial Mass Order page

Back to Sacrament Homepage