By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

In the first of two celebrations to unfold this month, the sacrament of Catholic marriage was honored Oct. 11 at the annual Anniversary Blessing Mass in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

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There, as bright sunshine illuminated the stained glass windows of the nave and heavenly music from the Diocesan Festival Choir, filled the air, 73 married couples from Burlington and Mercer counties, marking 1, 25 or 50 and more years as husband and wife were blessed by Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M.

In the company of their families, fellow parishioners and friends, the couples renewed their vows and had their marriages blessed by the Bishop who celebrated the Mass and in a moving homily, offered encouragement and pastoral support as he reflected on the importance of marriage in society today.

In his homily, Bishop O'Connell, who will also officiate at the second Mass to be held Oct. 25 in St. Robert Bellarmine Church, Freehold Township, for couples in Monmouth and Ocean counties, put the commitment of those gathered with him into context with a belief system that had stood the test of more than two millenniums.

Beginning in the present day, he said, “on TV, we see people getting married in all sorts of places, on beaches or cruise ships, jumping out of airplanes or even having their wedding ceremony in Las Vegas with 'Elvis' himself as the minister.”

He praised the brides and grooms before him for understanding their marriage as a sacrament, “one of those seven outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace. You understood your marriage as something not just between the two of you, but between the two of you and God. That is why we say the Sacrament of Marriage is a covenant; it is a covenant between the two of you and God.”

That ancient description calls to mind “the words of St. John Chrysostom, that famous theologian of the early Church, 'Let those who take spouses now, do as they did in Cana in Galilee. Let them have Christ in their midst.' St. John Chrysostom died in 407 – and the Church has embraced his encouragement ever since.”

“You have chosen to be married in the sight of this generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ,” said the bishop. “And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife give themselves to each other.”

Moving some in the cathedral to tears, he continued, “as spiritual life grows as love finds its center beyond ourselves: in God. Faithful and committed relationships offer a doorway into the mystery of spiritual life through which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed.”

“In marriage, we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life and to belong to one another not as a 'possession' but as a possibility for true, deep love.”

Following the Mass, Earle and Barbara Hughes, of Corpus Christi Parish, Willingboro, spoke of how meaningful it was to hear such assurances from the spiritual leader of the diocese in this “51-and-a-half” year of their marriage.

The couple, who offered the first reading of the liturgy, said they had marked their 25th anniversary year in the same way. Saying they felt “blessed and honored” to be present, they spoke of the blessings they've received throughout the decades.

“We've experienced so much in our lives,” said Barbara Hughes. Those blessings include five children between the ages of 50 and 35 and foster children as well. Through everything, they both said, the Church has been at the center of life. “It's all about faith,” she said. “That's what kept us going, stretched us til we squeaked pushed us to the limits and saw us through.”

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