A group photo of the 13 couples who received the Sacrament of Matrimony on Dec. 28, 2024, with Fr. Mark Phe Bya and Fr. Martin Ma Na Ling. COURTESY OF JULIAN MEH
‘Never too late for God’s people’
Thirteen couples of Holy Spirit’s Myanmar community receive the Sacrament of Matrimony
BY FR. MARTIN MA NA LING, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
The year 2024 ended with a great blessing with the wedding of the 13 couples of Myanmar Catholic Community at Holy Spirit Parish in Bowling Green, Ky., on Dec. 28. All these couples speak the Karenni dialect, which is one of the major dialects in Myanmar.
This was a long process, which took over a year of preparation for the marriage ceremony. From the end of 2023, I interviewed each couple to learn if they could marry in the Catholic Church, through the help of the catechists who worked hard to translate the Karenni dialect for me because I do not speak that dialect. When I interviewed them to find out why they were not married in the Catholic Church, most of the couples said, “I broke up with my girlfriends or boyfriends. Therefore, we thought we were not allowed to marry in the Church.” After hearing this, I told them that there was no marriage at all even according to their traditions and cultures. Therefore, they were eligible to get married in the Catholic Church.
The 13 couples of Holy Spirit Parish in Bowling Green who were married on Dec. 28, 2024, are seen during their exchange of consent. COURTESY OF JULIAN MEH
Among these 13 couples, some of them had been living together for 40 years, 30 years and 20 years or 10 years without even civilly marrying. (Some of them got married at the courthouse when they arrived in the United States.) Others were married according to their traditions in Thailand refugee camps or in Myanmar. However, the marriage documents in Thailand camps were in the Myanmar language; therefore, all these 13 couples received new marriage licenses from the courthouse in Bowling Green before they married in the Church. Now, they have both their civil marriage licenses and marriage certificates from the parish.
The most exciting moment for me was that they received the Sacrament of Reconciliation before the marriage ceremony from a visiting priest, Fr. Mark Phe Bya, vicar general of Loikaw Diocese, Myanmar, because he is a Karenni priest and spoke their dialect. During the Mass, some couples were able to receive their First Communion as well. They will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this Easter Vigil night.
Fr. Mark Phe Bya blesses the rings of the 13 couples getting married at Holy Spirit Parish in Bowling Green on Dec. 28, 2024. COURTESY OF JULIAN MEH
A great aspect of the marriage ceremony for these couples was that a priest who spoke their own dialect was present to celebrate the wedding Mass. As he celebrated the Mass in the Karenni dialect, most of the elderly couples who did not speak another dialect were able to participate fully.
I am happy that these couples could receive the blessing of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Because of this wedding, the faithful came to realize that the Sacrament of Matrimony is for all people. It is never late to receive it for the people of God as Catholic Christians. Every married couple is to fulfill the words of Jesus Christ: “He said in reply, ‘Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6).
Fr. Martin Ma Na Ling is the parochial vicar for Holy Spirit Parish in Bowling Green, Ky.
Thirteen couples receive the nuptial blessing on Dec. 28, 2024, during a wedding ceremony held for them, who are members of the Myanmar Catholic community at Holy Spirit Parish in Bowling Green. COURTESY OF JULIAN MEH
Originally printed in the February 2025 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
