Cardinal blesses couples celebrating 50 plus years of marriage

More than 100 couples celebrating 50 years of marriage, plus a few marking their 60th, 65th, and 70th years together, were blessed by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin at the Archdiocese of Newark’s annual Golden Anniversary Mass on April 16 in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

The spouses, who were from Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties, held each other’s wedding rings as Cardinal Tobin asked God to sanctify their love, praying that the husbands and wives grow in the sacrament of matrimony’s grace.

The cardinal also commended those present for choosing to commit their lives to another person despite the potential for difficulties in the relationship, calling it a “blessed act of faith.”

“How could you see what lay before you? How could you know then what for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer would really mean?” Cardinal Tobin said in his homily. “Your presence here today means that the faith you expressed in each other on your wedding day was also trust in the God who made you, in Jesus who called you, and in the Holy Spirit, who continues to illuminate your path.”

Cardinal Tobin later expressed a particular fellowship with the couples celebrating their 50th anniversaries, pointing out that it has been 50 years since he professed his own vows as a member of his religious order, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Afterward, he met with each couple to personally congratulate them on their milestone anniversaries. He also presented them with gold pins depicting interlocked wedding rings in front of a cross — a symbol that Christ is at the center of every strong, Catholic marriage.

The Golden Anniversary Mass was a celebration of the archdiocesan Office for Family Life Ministry, which strengthens families’ faith by hosting programs, providing ministry support training for parishes, and offering other spiritual initiatives. Its next gathering will be a Mass recognizing couples celebrating their fifth and 25th wedding anniversaries on Sunday, May 7, at 3 p.m. inside the Cathedral Basilica, with Auxiliary Bishop Gregory J. Studerus presiding. For more information on the Office for Family Life Ministry, visit www.rcan.org/offices-and-ministries/family-life/mission-staff.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin presents a couple celebrating at least 50 years of marriage with a blessed gold pin after the Archdiocese of Newark’s annual Golden Anniversary Mass in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart on April 16. At lower left, a couple celebrating at least 50 years of marriage holds hands during the Mass.