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<b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">Friends,
<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>in our Gospel Jesus defines the fundamental sacredness of marriage.</b></span> I’m
convinced that<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> the deep sacramental and religious meaning of
marriage—even within the Church</b></span>—<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>has been, in recent years, dramatically
compromised.</b></span> We say that marriage is a vocation, but do we mean it?</span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>We
can look at human sexual relationships at a number of different levels</b></span>.
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Two people
can come together purely for physical pleasure, for economic reasons, or
for psychological companionship. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>And we might witness two people coming
together out of authentic love.</b></span></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span><br></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><div><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman"">But none of these level</span></b></span><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman""><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>s</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> is what the Bible means by marriage. </b></span>When I was doing parish work, I would
invariably ask young couples, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>“Why do you want to get married in church?<span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-style:normal">”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman""> <font size="4"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Most would say something like, “We love each other.<span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-style:normal">”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> But I said, “Well, that’s no reason </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>to get married in church.</b></span>” Usually, they looked stunned. But <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>I meant it.</b></span></font></span></div><div><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman"">
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><u><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">You
come to church to be married before God and his people when you are
convinced that your marriage is not, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">finally, about you;</span> that it is
about God and about serving God’s purposes; that it is, as much as the
priesthood of a priest, a vocation, a sacred calling.</span></b></u></span>
</span></div>
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