See photos from the Mass for Matrimony here.
Christian marriage is a life-long pilgrimage made up of many journeys, each providing unique shape and form. It is not one long uninterrupted road, but many varied journeys filled with a variety of emotions, feelings and experiences. This Saturday over 480 couples commenced journeys from across the diocese, to recommit themselves to the vows taken on the wedding day. This was a moment to reflect on the shared narrative of their lives together to rekindle memories of the first journey that brought them to matrimony, as well as the many experiences across the years.
Each journey will have shaped the couple, revealed something about how God is active in their lives, each being part of a narrative that God writes with them. This on occasion might involve some re-editing or the grace to discover in times of confusion that a new path was being offered.
This latter image of ‘paths offered’ came to me recently while walking in an area that we were very familiar with, when my wife and I discovered a new path. That path had always been there, we simply had not noticed it. Walking that path, as with walking through the experiences of married life, frequently reveals that God is always offering us something new in our vocation of married love.
Marriage is a pilgrimage of discipleship, a great journey within which it is the small journeys that open our horizons. Reflecting on a significant anniversary is the opportunity to notice where grace has been active in each step. This shared path to holiness means that there is always someone to pick us up, give encouragement and discover new pathways together.
The early years are where we discover the rhythm of walking together by adjusting our pace and navigating hopes and fears. These first miles are exciting as we realise that God has asked us to walk together. Then there are the times of detours where we lose sight of the shared path. These are not times of failure but the paths where Jesus walks more closely alongside us, as he did at Emmaus. As we reorientate ourselves on the journey we often look back and only then do we notice how grace has carried us through.
Celebrating an anniversary provides the ‘mountain top’ moment, which gives us a glimpse of the far horizon: the birth of our children, times of reconciliation and increasing intimacy. Such times enable us to then navigate the path ahead. Celebrating our marital joy in the presence of others is, indeed, a peak moment.
From this place, we return to our daily walks of life, where the tiny ‘conversion moments’ have helped our paths to entwine. Again, noticing where we have had to reorientate ourselves are a vivid expression of metanoia. In turning to Jesus in times if difficulties, we realise that He always offers new beginnings and new exciting paths. Marriage is a sacrament that never stops giving because Jesus shows us how to turn our hearts to each other.
