By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily during the annual Mass for couples marking wedding anniversaries of 1, 25, 50 or more years. The Mass was celebrated Jan. 25, 2020, at St. Mary Cathedral in Miami.
When Jesus begins his public ministry of preaching and healing, John the Baptist is already under arrest. And so, with John in prison, Jesus steps up to the plate. He doesn’t return to his hometown, Nazareth, but goes to Capernaum. Capernaum was in that part of Galilee that both the first reading and the Gospel today refer to: land of Zebulun and Naphtali; that is, Capernaum was on the edge of the gentile world – and, therefore, for a Jew on the edge of darkness. But Jesus goes to Capernaum – which will become his home base for the rest of his ministry – and, in doing so, fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah: “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined.” For as Jesus would later say: I am the light of the world.
And, of course, when he called his disciples, he would send them out on mission. In the Gospel today he tells those fishermen that he called to his side that he would make them “fishers of men.” And Jesus, the dawning light for those who sat in the shadow of death, would tell them – and us – that we too are to be light in the world. Jesus’ vocation is our vocation.
Today, we want to recognize and celebrate those of you marking significant anniversaries of married life. As you live the vocation of marriage, you bring the light of Jesus that permits us to see the beauty of marriage; your lived commitment to each other “for better or for worse” allows us to see the depth and the beauty of love brought to full maturity; we can see that mature love knows true freedom because it is committed. Because married love is true sharing in Jesus’ own vocation, married love, in imaging the love of Christ for his bride, the Church, is a love tried and purified in the crucible of suffering and sacrifice.
Of course, we know that there is something of a vocation crisis today. This vocation crisis does not only affect the numbers of young people embracing a call to the priesthood or religious life. The vocation crisis also affects the number of those willing to assume the risks of marriage understood as a permanent commitment of one man and one woman to mutual fidelity and to openness to life. According to statistics reported in our newspapers, less than half of the households in the United States today are made up of married couples. For the first time in history, there are more people not married – we put in this category those never married, not yet married and not married anymore – there are more in this category than those who are married. Today, so many people – and society itself – are confused about the meaning of marriage and family. The hopes that people place in marriage are increasingly fragile in our age of easy divorce. Too many people, especially among our young, are cynical about the possibilities of entering a joyful marriage that will endure until death.
However, your life together "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health” is a beautiful witness that God who is love made us, male and female, in his own image and likeness and in doing so God put into the humanity of man and woman the vocation – and thus the capacity and the responsibility – of love and communion.
But, as you know, getting married does not end problems. This life is a "valley of tears" and for us there is no escaping the trials and tests of life. But being married means you can face those problems together. As Pope Francis told a group of newlyweds a few years ago, “Living together within the bonds of holy matrimony is an art… a patient, beautiful and fascinating journey.”
That journey, the pope told those young couples, can be summarized in three words: “please, thank you, and sorry.” But I am sure that the pope didn't say anything that you don't know already.
The Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, in “Anna Karenina” says, “Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” In other words, there are many ways to go wrong; but the one way to go right is the way of love. For this reason, Jesus begins his ministry saying, “Repent! The Kingdom of heaven is near.”
The Sacrament of Matrimony – that is, marriage lived in the Lord, marriage lived by the Lord, and marriage lived for the Lord – is a true vocation, a vocation that radiates the light of Christ, the light of the Gospel.
As you celebrate your anniversaries, you can look back and see how God's grace was with you, helping you along the way.
We ask you to once again renew the commitment that you made to each other so long ago, a commitment that has been tested and refined over the years, and a commitment that is now blessed and enriched by the wisdom of age. And we thank you for embracing the vocation of marriage and your witness to the “good news” of marriage.
