wedding: andre and krissa's friends' prayer

These prayers were  prayed by Andre and Krissa's friends  - seminarians who made their love prosper despite being "underground" for years in the seminary.  This was said in lieu of the Prayers of the Faithful.

Vincent C. or Michael Pete S.:  Dear God, I am just a lowly secretary in this grand design of your love for Mark and Krissa.  I may have to rewrite Mark's sloppy handwriting and revise an artless stroke of his hand, but I can attest that the contents of his thoughts are pure and the contents of his heart is love.  Keep them in love for a long time, for a very long time, even now and even then, when my pen is no longer needed and when they have found better and richer ways of expressing their love for each other, other than writing.  I may quite literally have a hand in this love story and am proud of it, but it is you God who wrote the whole story.  Give it Lord, I pray then, a happy ending.  Amen

   

Ryan P.:  Lord God, I am just in-charge of the lowly technicals.  And yet I know that though I am not the voice, I amplify it so that it can be heard loudly and clearly; and though I am not the singer and the song, I edited it that it may sound beautifully, reflecting more sincerely the song that comes from within.  It was my work then to facilitate things so that the true message can come across.  I pray for them too Lord, help them to communicate more clearly, and to listen more intently to each other.  Remind them to edit carefully what they say and sing, so that these will come out more beautifully, more respectfully, and more trustfully.  Amen

Fr. Julius R.:  Lord God, I am just a lowly driver in this grand scheme which is the love between Mark and Krissa.  I merely bridged the gap so that the going may be had more swiftly. I just closed the gap so that the distance may be crossed more quickly.  It was not much, but it was enough to prolong even just for a few more minutes their being together.  Help them Lord to value, as they once valued, the seconds and the minutes that they have together.  Give them time for each other, even if it's just to simply value each other's presence.  Don't keep them far apart for long. Put in their hearts a longing for each other, a longing that will never fade, so that wherever they are and whatever they're doing, they will always feel the urge to go back home to each other.  Amen.

  

Fr. DB Ray:  I am just the designer of gifts.  I was only needed at that time when things and objects, when cakes and chocolates were still the gifts.  Now that they are married, help them to realize that they are gifts to each other.  They may not be creatively wrapped especially as they wake up in the morning, but wrappings are not the gifts.  As I thank you Lord for this opportunity to be involved in this love story you have personally written, I pray, remind them of this.  Amen.

  

Mark:  Loving God, I thank you for having met Krissa when we were both very young and when we were still discovering this "thing" called love.  Thank you for the opportunity to grow together – not just physically but also spiritually, psychologically and emotionally, in our longing, in our caring, in our forgiving and in our loving.  It was not always easy, nevertheless it was always exciting.  And you made it so, loving God, because you surrounded me with people who helped me grow in my love for her.  I have loved Krissa and will continue to love her because of the people who encouraged us, because of the people who supported us in our commitment, in our promises to each other, and even in the little things that meant so much for me and for her.  Amen.

  

Krissa:  I thank you also Loving God for having met Mark. There was a time in our lives together that we surmounted our fears because we loved each other - a time when we have to climb walls, literally, always watchful, always cautious when we were together.  There was a time when we were not free, when loving was thought and felt to be wrong.  And yet we have seen for ourselves that love conquers all.  Arm us with the same faith as we go through life together, a we build our family together.  In the years to come, when by any chance we would fight about money or worry too much about health, remind us dear God that when we truly love, nothing can put us asunder.  Nothing can be stronger than love.  Amen.