By Deacon Roger Carr-Jones, Marriage and Family Life Coordinator
Marriage Week is an annual celebration offering the opportunity to support and promote marriage and family life. It is celebrated from the 7-14th February. This year we are invited to explore, in its 10th anniversary year, the key themes of Amoris Laetitia on: Joy, Love, Mercy, Realities and Discernment, and Mission. Into this eclectic mix we, as a diocese, are celebrating the installation of our new Archbishop, Richard Moth, on the 14th February.
When placed alongside each other these celebrations provide an incredibly powerful pastoral and symbolic image, in aligning the spousal leadership of the local Church with the vocation of marriage. For me, this synergy is captured through one small yet linked item, a ring.
In the ceremony, the Archbishop receives a ring, just as in their wedding ceremony the couple exchange rings. Each ring represents a gift of oneself in love: that of the couple to one another, and that of the Archbishop to his diocese. In both vocations, this gift is permanent, faithful, life shaping and not without challenges. Though the vocations are expressed differently, we find sacrifice, love and nurturing. There is also a focus on well-being: that of couple to their family and that of the bishop of his wider spiritual family.
The giving of the ring speaks of covenant, not a contract. The ring in both instances is not about power or status: it’s about relationship, fidelity, and self‑gift. Though the vocations are different they both symbolise an expression of ‘spousal love’. For the couple this is becoming in marriage a living sign of Christ’s love for the Church, and for the bishop becoming a ‘spiritual spouse’ to his diocese.
The blessing of the rings in marriage and that of the bishop’s ring both emphasise God’s presence in the commitment, the sacredness of the promise, and the grace to live out the vocation. Just as the couple will wear their rings as a sign of fidelity to one another, the bishop wears his as a sign of his bond to the Church. A ring therefore is not simply a sign of an emotional connection, it goes much deeper and is a symbol of a life-long responsibility.
In speaking of the exchange of rings in marriage, Fr Stephen Wang observed, “the ring that is given is a sign of the love and fidelity of the one who gives it… the ring that you wear, that was placed on your finger by your spouse on your wedding day, does not represent your commitment to your marriage, your love for your spouse, your faithfulness. … It represents the commitment, love, and faithfulness of your spouse to you.” If this helps reshape our understanding of the ring that we gave, it can also help us to think of the commitment we make to our new Archbishop.
Take a moment to look at your wedding ring. Reflect on the one that will be worn by Archbishop Richard and take note of the parallels. Both are a sign of commitment, of harmony in their different ways speaking of a shared language: marriage and priesthood lived as a covenant, expressed publicly, and sustained by grace.
https://www.cbcew.org.uk/marriage-week/