Marriage: A Path towards Holiness

Marriage Mass 2022

This is always a day of special joy when we celebrate significant milestones in the lives of married couples. It is with joy that they renew the love that inspired their marriage. They thank God for their spouse and they ask that God will continue to be with them in the times ahead.

Last year the Church reflected on St Joseph as Patron of the universal Church. He was held up before us as a model of husband and father. It was very opportune to consider marriage in the light of the experience of Mary and Joseph. This year we can reflect on marriage from the aspect of family, as the Tenth World Meeting of Families is to be held in Rome from 22 to 26 June.

Due to the ongoing issues related to the pandemic, the events in Rome will be simplified and attention is being given to celebrations of the event in dioceses across the world. Shortly our participation in the World Meeting of Families will be announced.

Marriage is, of course, oriented towards family.

One key theme which will be explored this year through the various catecheses that have been prepared is the family as the path to holiness. In one catechesis it states:

A family is born from the decision of a man and a woman to begin an experience of life in common together, supported by the Grace of Christ. When this occurs, married life, full of novelties and new challenges to face, becomes for the spouses, as the rite of Marriage says, the new path towards their sanctification and, consequently, a privileged path towards holiness.

Holiness is not something reserved for saints or those who follow a consecrated life. It is the path for all of us, no matter what our state in life. Pope Francis said, “We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves”.

He then adds, “Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus”. (Gaudete et Exsultate 14).

The path to holiness is found precisely within the context of our lives.

St Paul reminded Timothy that we are all called by God to live holy lives when he says: “He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus”. (2 Tim 1:9-10)

Through the Sacrament of Matrimony a husband and wife are answering a calling that God has made to them. That calling becomes a call to love as He loves. The “yes” pronounced by the bride and groom to each other on their wedding day finds concrete expression every day in the effort of loving each other despite all their fragility and weaknesses.

This call to love is sustained by the grace of Christ offered through the Sacrament. Spouses welcome this Grace which enables them to learn, with perseverance and humble patience, to love one another: to love as Jesus loves. For a couple of faith it is comforting to know that, despite the normal hardships and inevitable moments of difficulty, the presence of Christ remains always with them to provide essential support and incomparable comfort.

Today we rejoice with the couples who celebrate significant milestones in their marriage this year. As we celebrate the gift and grace of marriage, we are reminded that it is the path of love and a path towards holiness.

The Prayer written for the World Meeting of Families begins with these words,

Heavenly Father,
We come before You to praise You
and to thank You for the great gift of the family.
We pray to You for all families
consecrated by the Sacrament of Matrimony.
May they rediscover each day the grace they have received,
and as small domestic Churches,
may they know how to witness to your Presence
and to the love with which Christ loves the Church.
We pray to You for all families faced with difficulty and suffering caused by illness or circumstances of which only You know.
Sustain them and make them aware
of the path to holiness upon which You call them,
so that they might experience your infinite Mercy
and find new ways to grow in love.

Today we salute those couples who celebrate significant milestones in the married life and we rejoice in God’s wonderful gift of marriage.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Sunday, 13 February 2022