Celebrating the annual anniversary Mass for couples married 25, 50 and 50-plus years Oct. 5 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Archbishop Samuel Aquila said there are three goods of marriage: lifelong commitment, fidelity and the gift of children.
“You are constantly putting your husband, or your wife, first within your life, making yourself a total self-gift to him or her,” the archbishop said, in living out the sacrament of marriage. “And that is not possible unless one is deeply rooted in faith, in God, putting God first within one’s life.”
During his homily, Archbishop Aquila referenced the day’s second reading of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians (Phil 4:6-9), including the verse: “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
“It is precisely that faith in Christ that has brought truth to your marriages, that has allowed you to persevere, to forgive with one another, to bear with one another, to love one another, to suffer with each other and to experience the joy and the peace that is also there,” he told the congregation that filled the cathedral.
“In marriage,” he continued, “if you hold on to your own way and do not put on the mind and heart of Jesus Christ, your marriage will not last.
“And it is essential—as you give witness today in your marriages of 25, 50 and 50-plus years, 74 years—that you give witness to the world of what it means to be in Christ. And that is where the peace and the joy comes from that no one can ever take away,” he added.
More than 200 couples, registering in advance of the Mass, were listed in the liturgy’s program.
