JODY, JOHN, you are together today because you need each other. You can give to each other your selves; you each fulfill something in the other, becoming the other's soul-mate. For the other is someone with whom you can share your goals and your dreams, your aspirations and your hopes for the future.

Two people have entered a relationship, and one couple leaves, even as you are still two unique individuals. You become one, yet remain two. That is the magic and the mystery of marriage, as love allows you to recreate yourselves.

You are both special souls. There's a genuineness that allows for neither sham nor pretense, a sense of respect coupled with an innate kindness and caring attitude. Both of you understand the importance of commitment, and your lives reflect that importance.

You're caring, nurturing, and life-affirming. There's an inner strength which you both possess, a strength born of determination and good understanding of one's self.

You share a confidence in each other, as well as in your future of intertwined lives, as you bring out the best in each other. You will be true to your individual selves, keeping your own space, yet always secure in the other's love. Each of you is a whole person in your own right. On your own, you have become who you are. Sharing your lives together, maintain that uniqueness. Be all that you are and were meant to be. That's not to say there will be no compromise; in all relationships there must be. But you can still be yourselves. Each of you, in your own way, helps the other to become the best of which the other is capable, even as you challenge each other, continuing to grow as individuals and as a couple, always pursuing your dreams.

JODY, JOHN ... a holy union is not achieved through a ceremony alone.

You need communication that is open, and real, and substantive, so you can share with each other not just your dreams and aspirations, but your problems, fears, foibles and vulnerabilities. It is communication that is not only with words, but with your entire being; and it involves listening as well. It is constantly learning about the other, one's thoughts, one's feelings. And it's listening to what is not said.

And there's understanding. Truly understanding each other, and accepting the other's uniqueness and quirks, imperfections and idiosyncrasies, seeing all this as part of what indeed makes the other so special.

There's the need for a sense of humor, so you don't take yourselves too seriously. Life is short, work is serious; it's important to also lighten up, to nurture that sense of playfulness and humor.

And your relationship should be one that renews itself. As the yeas unfold, the bond that joins you together will continually be strengthened and enhanced, growing even as teh two of you will continue to grow. Through that process of renewal, you will provide a refuge, a sanctuary for each other from the chill winds of the world.

We're confident that your marriage and your home will always be blessed.

First and foremost, your marriage will be blessed if you remember the importance of family and friends. It is so important to develop that embracing community of friends; they are there to support you. And a close family is so important, and so supportive. For family lends a foundation upon which you can build your future. Just as your parents have passed down their wisdom and their moral and spiritual values to you, so will you pass on your wisdom and values to the next generation. Family lends a sense of stability in a world that seems chaotic. There's a great strength in the values of family, fostering a sense of tradition and continuity with those past generations who are not here with us this day.

Your marriage will be blessed as you discover and enjoy your day-to-day life, the ordinary, the usual, making it into something special - something extraordinary, unusual. And so, too, you will share new ideas, keeping yourselves open to the adventures that will come your way. You will fully live your lives, enjoying the hours and the days, as they slip into the years, with your best friend, making the most of all you share together.

Your marriage will be blessed if you allow the beauty and the meaning of religious traditions to permeate your home and your lives. Religious values and sensibilities will strengthen your home and give it a rich texture and meaning that will suffuse your lives and guide you along life's journey, as you are nurtured by those bonds of sacred connectedness. Those values will help your home to truly become a haven from the pressures of our harried world which influence all of us.

And your marriage will be blessed if you understand your place in the community. To lie only at home is not enough. We are to bring our communities the best that is in us. Measure your lives by your impact upon others. By reaching out beyond yourselves, you reach out to each other as well.

Both of you understand that marriage is an unfolding journey, even as your love for each other will continue to grow. Marriage involves continually looking for the happiness and making the happiness as well. It is continually looking for something new in the other, and in the relationship, keeping yourselves open to all the manifold possibilities in life, sharing your successes and your failures as well, being there for each other through all the ups and downs of life, and never taking each other for granted.

The last official world of the marriage ceremony is Amen. It means to stand firm, to be loyal. Thru the difficulties and joys of marriage you promise to stand loyally beside each other, to say Amen to each other. Your marriage, as you now share your lives together, enhances your reverence for the mystery and the sacredness of life. Marriage is called kiddushin, from the Hebrew word kadosh - to be holy, or sacred. Marriage is a true consecration, a sanctification of life, as you consecrate each other to a shared future, from this moment forward. It is an experience that opens up the depth of your souls, as your dreams become reality. You have been each other's past; you are now each other's present; you will grow into each other's future.