DIOCESE OF ORANGE TO HOST JUBILEE OF MARRIAGE MASS
BY LINDA JI, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE FOR FAMILY LIFE, DIOCESE OF ORANGE
THE BISHOPS OF California declared Saturday, July 26, 2025, as the Jubilee of Marriage, to be celebrated as part of the global Church’s Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee Year. The Jubilee of Marriage closes the California bishops’ year-long Radiate Love initiative, a statewide movement dedicated to renewing and celebrating the sacrament of marriage. Although the bishops’ initiative concludes this summer, married couples are called to continue radiating love as “pilgrims of hope,” as a profound sign of hope and God’s love for both the Church and the world through their family life.
With the proclamation of the Jubilee of Marriage, California Catholic Conference (CCC) President, Bishop Oscar Cantú said, “The vocation of marriage is not only a personal covenant between a man and a woman, but a public witness to love, faith and perseverance. We invite all couples and families to participate in this day of joy, reflection and service.”
The Jubilee of Marriage appropriately coincides with the Memorial of Saints Anne and Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grandparents of Jesus and patron saints of all parents and grandparents.
The Diocese of Orange will commemorate the Jubilee of Marriage with a diocesan Mass at the Christ Cathedral campus on July 26 at 11:30 a.m. in the Arboretum. All are welcome, and married couples and
families are especially invited to attend together to receive the plenary indulgence offered as part of the Jubilee year.
Families can also celebrate the Jubilee of Marriage in simple ways on their own. They can pray together, especially seeking the intercession of Saints Anne and Joachim on their feast day. Couples can host a special family meal to break bread in fellowship while sharing memories and storytelling about their marriage and how it has been a pilgrimage of hope. Acts of service in the parish and community are real expressions of marriage and family love. These works of mercy reflect Christ’s love that flows through the family to society.
For the past year, the Radiate Love campaign inspired widespread engagement throughout the twelve California dioceses. In the Diocese of Orange, parishes embraced the initiative with special prayers and blessings, including the distribution of over 14,000 prayer cards of the Radiate Love Prayer for Marriage in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Korean. Our clergy attended webinars on preaching about marriage. The diocese offered couples date night kits with childcare on a quarterly basis throughout the campaign. Civilly married Catholic couples were invited to seek the sacrament of marriage in a campaign educating about and encouraging marriage validations. Young adults were accompanied in their discernment of dating and marriage through retreats and speaker series. Damon Owens, nationally
renowned writer on marriage and Theology of the Body, reignited hearts of deacons for marriage ministry as the keynote at this year’s diaconate convocation. Ministry leaders throughout the diocese gathered in February for a day-long Marriage Catechumenate Summit, to implement this paradigm-shifting approach to formation for marriage locally. Southern California dioceses partnered to provide the Adventures in Marriage relationship skills workshop for couples every Saturday of March, including three opportunities in our Diocese of Orange.
With the Jubilee of Marriage, the California bishops urge couples and families to continue radiating love beyond their campaign. Our bishops have recast the vision of the truth and beauty of sacramental marriage as a profound sign of Christ’s love for us through the Radiate Love initiative. Now this vision must be realized through
faithful families authentically living this sacrament. Building and strengthening families through teaching marriage skills and providing supportive accompaniment continues as a priority of the Church and is a key part of our evangelization strategy. To this end, the CCC will host the “Love IRL” summit in September for parish and school leaders who work with young people to incorporate formation for marriage in their ministries. The CCC is also partnering with Communio to work with any parish in the state to invest in their community’s families through Communio’s outreach and full-circle relationship ministry model.
The first 100 couples to RSVP to the Diocese of Orange Jubilee of Marriage Mass on July 26 will receive a limited edition “Radiate Love” T-shirt. For more information about the Jubilee, plenary indulgences, or to RSVP for the Jubilee of Marriage Mass, visit RCBO.org/hope. C
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