Saturday, October 4 @ 7:00 PM
St. Augustine Cathedral

My dear friends,

When St. Augustine chose to teach his people about the mystery of the church, like the good teacher that he was, he chose a very simple image. He chose the image of a garden. As our gardens in the modern world have different flowers, so too, he said, the garden of the church has different flowers, representing the different vocations and states of life that we formed together as a single family.

Because Augustine lived in a time when the church was persecuted, he began first with the martyrs. He said, The garden has red roses, roses that not only have a profound and rich smell, red because of the blood that the martyrs poured, but because when you handle a rose, if you are not careful, it will draw blood from you. He said, So dotted in the garden are those who give their life for their faith.

Then, of course, because he was a religious, founded a congregation, Augustine then went on to the lilies the garden, the white lilies, pure and simple, to represent those who are the virgins in our midst, those women and men who gave their life totally and completely in consecration to the Kingdom of God.

Then he turned to the vine. He said, In this garden, it is covered with a green vine that intertwines vines in its branches. That when you look upon it, it seems as if it is one vine. But in truth, there are strands that are clinging to each other, bind it together as if they appeared to be one. Vines that are green and verdant and luxurious, resistant. He said, Those vines represent those in our midst who have entered in the great sacrament of marriage.

If you think about it, my friends, that image is a beautiful way to describe the mystery that you who have come here to celebrate your anniversaries, and anyone in married life lives day in and day out. Some of you here for 50 years, 25 years, 68 years, 70 and above. When God brought your paths together, you were like two separate vines minds that began a journey so that by your hopes and dreams, your challenges and pains and struggles, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, your lives slowly became united in one.

Even though you are distinct people, I would presume that you get to a point in your marriage when you know what the other one is thinking, so there’s no way to hide. You know each other’s faults and failings. Perhaps what was a big deal when you were first married becomes, I’ll leave him alone. He’ll get over it.

But as your lives became ever more united, they remained rich and green because you fed each other, defended each other, protected each other, had patience and kindness and forgiveness and compassion with each other. A vine is stronger when it is united And so in the times of turbulence and storms, as the natural vines continue to survive in times of drought, when they only appear to be dry for a season, nonetheless, they are revived and continue to grow together.

And so, too, my friends, we gather here to celebrate the life journey that has made you the living vines in honor of Jesus Christ. We are celebrating today more than 3,000 years of married life. Let’s give yourselves a round of applause here. But the truth be told, you would have done nothing, achieved nothing. You would not even be here unless there was someone else in your marriage.

Today, we heard in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, this image about loving one another. And yet, my friends, in the gospel right before it, Jesus speaks of the image of the vine and the branches. He reminded His Apostles then, as He does us, that the very love he described is precisely because the vines have a deeper root, a branch that is not of your making and mine. For who was the one who gave you strength or the power to forgive or compassion or hope when there was turmoil and struggle? Who was the one who brought you together when you were arguing and said, We can’t find a way out of this? Who was the one who laughed with you, cried with you, consoled you, wiped your tears, was there when your children were born, your grandchildren were born, sick and healthy, joy and sorrow, if not the Lord himself. It was the Lord who brought you together.

I love to remind people who are married. Before you were ever born, God knew who would be your partner, and He chose him or her. You think you did, but He did. And more than that, He chose your spouse for one reason only, so that he or she may walk with you to eternal life. For all the people who ever lived, the one who is sitting next to you is your most intimate companion so that you can together be in the glory of eternal life.

And He still remains with you. And will always remain with you as the foundation of your entire family, the source of all your blessings, and your companion in the years ahead, which I pray, are many,

That is why you and I have come here today to acknowledge and give thanks to Almighty God through Jesus, our savior and redeemer, for all of you and for the commitment and fidelity you have lived in this great mystery of love we call matrimony, and to continue to ask for His help, that God will bless you with many more years of happiness and health, that He will continue to guide and protect you, that He will continue to feed you with the gift of his spirit, and to be able to see joy in the faces of your children and grandchildren, and for some of you, I think even great grandchildren, because you have been faithful to the root of your vine, and those who are willing to walk with Christ will walk unto the glory of eternal life. And that is where your marriage will not be until death. It will be unto everlasting life.

My friends, congratulations. You are a great gift to the church and to me. And on this day, may the angels and saints bless you abundantly in the garden we form For thank God, there are vines green and growing in our midst. And may your example teach the younger generations that marriage is the vocation that is worth everything to give to. Congratulations, and may God bless you all.