Fifty married couples representing a collective 2,346 years of marriage were honored and blessed June 27 at the annual Jubilarian Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C.
Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell, who presided at the Mass, drew on the Gospel reading from Mark to emphasize that in marriage each couple had become one and continues to set examples for the entire Church of how God’s love for humankind unites God with all. The Jubiliarian Mass honors couples who are celebrating jubilee anniversaries this year who have been married for 25-70 years.
Because of coronavirus precautions, the Mass this year was limited to 50 couples, who filled the first section of the cathedral. Everyone wore face masks, but participants were allowed to sit closer together than when distancing guidelines were stricter.
The scriptural call that “what God has joined together no human must separate, has been shown in your lives by the support of your families, your children, your grandchildren, your friends,” the bishop said. The observation by Mark in the Gospel that married couples be “‘joined as one flesh’ is possible because of your faith and your hope in God.”
Bishop Campbell acknowledged that throughout their long marriages the couples’ “self-giving love has been tested over the years by the tribulations of life, work, health, raising a family, maybe not always seeing eye-to-eye with each other on everything. But your love for each other is greater than any of these tribulations of life. Because your love is patient, it’s kind, it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes in all things. Your love does not seek its own interests. It is not quick-tempered. It does not brood over injury.”
He said that through the COVID pandemic, this kind of love gave the couples, their families, friends and the Church the strength to make it through.
“This is why God created man in His image…. Male and female… God created you in His image so that the love He gives you, you may give to each other…. Making you one in God’s love.”
The Mass included a renewal of marriage vows for the couples and a blessing of their rings. That was followed by a kiss shared by each couple. The Mass was livestreamed and many other families watched online. The YouTube video showed 961 views by the morning following the live Mass.
As the Mass began, Carla Ferrando-Bowling, director of the archdiocesan Office for Family Life, said the event is to “celebrate the joy and gift of married life as a visible sign of God’s love for the world.” She noted that one couple registered as celebrating 73 years of marriage.
