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Homily preached at my cousins wedding

My Lord Bishop, Deans, Very Rev Fathers, the parents of the couples, invited guests, Seun and Ayo, Oni Lojope Edumare……..  Yes oluwa ti seun Ayo ti wole, what a divine plan,  last year Seun called me she said uncle please tell my mumy to allow me get married, am no longer a baby please I know she listen to you safe me uncle. And I said wait for the appointed time. Today and I repeat today the prophesy of Jerimiah 11:10 have come to pass For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon's seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. Listen now in vs 6 of chapter 11 he says: “you will take wives and have sons and daughters; to the parents he says: you will take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.”
What we have gathered to celebrate today is in the plan of God. A union between a man and a woman not man and man noooo!! Not between a woman and a woman or man and animal; But between Seun and Ayo
According to Tertullian, marriage is divine, it is created by God and it should be lawful. He accept marriage as a union of man and woman in order to help God in the works of pro-creation and for him it is to be contracted once; because Adam, as pictured in the book of Genesis was the only husband that Eve had and vice-vassal. As a logician he gave us the mathematics of marriage as “added one together with one it will give one. Why the predicate is one, what was added is one if the premises are one logically the conclusion will be one According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.” Hence, marriage as a divine institution aimed at communion of life among couples and procreation and education of children is very essential to every society.  Marriage helps to create healthy families which are in turn the bases of every society because it remains indisputable that whenever the family catches cold the society will automatically sneezes.  Based on this reality, the issue of marriage must be carefully handled in every society. For this to be, we need to learn from the church fathers, and put into considerations the youth of the contemporary society who wants to get married at all cost without the necessary pre-marital preparations.
Love is the brain-box of every marriage, what is love? I will say for this occasion love could be defined from the acronyms L.O.V.E “let our vows exist” Seun and Ayo soon you will come forward before the bishop and the entire people of God to take your consents for you to break it and go separate ways you must first gather all of us again. Is that possible? Perhaps not; Ayo marriage in the Catholic Church is inseparable, ones you say I do you cannot say I No Do again you must always do. Are you ready to do?
Do not be afraid my children, as you can see from the gospel pericope we just took from the gospel according to John 2: 1-12  the opening vs reads “there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. Yes Mary stood in for them when there was a short coming.  Perhaps it may interest you to know that no one told Mary that wine has finished she noticed it as a mother this is because she was invited. Seun and Ayo you also must invite her into your homes.

 Let us see some lessons every couple should learn from the scissors so that we can become better couples and build enviable homes.
Lesson 1. The scissors is always in pairs and that's where its usefulness is. Once you see one part and the other part is not there, it is useless no matter how beautiful it is. The effectiveness of every marriage is lost when couples are not together. Separation and divorce destroy the effectiveness and usefulness of every marriage. Remember, 'united we stand, divided we fall'. Separation is not only when you separate physically and you are no longer living together. There are many couples who are together under the same roof but are spiritually, emotionally, sexually, financially, socially, etc separated.
Lesson 2. The togetherness of scissors is not automatic. There is a small bolt or pin that fixed the scissors together in the middle. In the same vein, if couples must be bounded together like this scissors, there must be 'bolts' that must fixed and wed them together that will make them inseparable. Some of the 'bolts' are the presence of God, Mary, openness and trust, unity, healthy and joyful sex life, family vision, good family finance, family altar, etc.
Lesson 3 The scissors is useless except someone holds it. Couples cannot be effective except they allow God to hold them and use them to achieve their marital destiny. Please allow God as your third party not human no not even your parents “Yoruba ni bi ogiri oba lanu alangba ko le wobe” without a crack the lizard cannot penetrate a wall!! If your parents come to intervene in your moments of disagreement tell them “Eseun epada ija made titan oooo!!! The devil can hold the two of you and use you to destroy each other, and destroy the future of your children and even destroy your eternity. Do not allow it, Ask yourself as couples. Who is holding us and holding our family?
Lesson 4 Each pair of the scissors has a sharp part and a dull part. The face is sharp while the back is dull. In the same vein, each couple has his/her area of strengths and weaknesses. Your spouse is not empty. Though you might see the 'dull part' of your spouse, but if you want your marriage to accomplish its purpose, you must recognize the 'sharp part' of your spouse. You also must display your 'sharp part'(strengths). Do not just display your 'dull part'(weaknesses). That destroys marriage fast!

To you parents and friends you have gathered today to join them please do not separate them, they ask me to beg you that they are not interested in your gossips. Efi tiyin se tiyin.
Seun suru iwapele lafi gbe ile oko. Remember ile oko ile Eko. Let your husband be your best friend. Ayo remember I told you Seun like to dance music is the key to her heart. Once you want to make her happy take her to dancing hall. Seun every man likes good soup; thank God your mother is a good cook. Trust one another remember the story of a wife who always listen to gossips about her husband having extra marital affairs, one day she returns from work to meet a couple in their room sleeping with a covered cloth she rushed to the kitchen and pick a pestle and pond their heads till death. Only to go the sitting room to meet his husband who told her that her parents came visiting hence he allowed them to sleep on their bed out of respect. You see she killed her parent because of gossip, lack of trust, and impatience.
May God bless your union and make you fruitful Amen
30th September 2017
Fr Lawrence Ogundipe Sdv.

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