If you were to interview the nearly 60 couples celebrating marriage milestones at Life Marriage and Family Sunday, and ask them the secret to their successful unions, two words would consistently come up: prayer and perseverance.
On 19 October, these were two recurring themes permeating the joy and love on display at ‘Life Marriage and Family Sunday’ organised by the Life, Marriage and Family (LMF) team in the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, which saw couples renewing their vows in a special service at St Mary’s Cathedral by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP.
“Our Life Marriage Family team always look forward to celebrating LMF Sunday – one of the highlights of our year,” said Hazel Lim, mission manager for LMF.
“It is a day to honour marriages and families and to commemorate the Feast of St John Paul II who beautifully described families as the “sanctuary of life.”
During the special morning Mass, Archbishop Fisher invited couples to renew their vows and also receive a special blessing for their families.
“It was great to see the head of our church here, blessing this day for us,” said Marianna Janji, celebrating 50 years with her husband, Nabil, who emphasised that: “We won’t forget this special morning. It means that the sacrament of marriage, the family life, is very precious and it should be guarded, and celebrated.”
For couple Margaret and Thomas Ryan, the Mass was a glorious reminder of their own nuptials five decades ago.
“We always go to Mass, but this was an extra special one because we were married here in St Mary’s Cathedral, by Bishop David Cremin 50 years ago. It was beautiful, except we didn’t have that number of people when we got married,” recalled Margaret.
After the Mass, couples and their families were invited to the Cathedral Hall for a celebratory lunch with the archbishop, where they celebrating a significant anniversary, received special commemorative certificates, and took photos.
A special joy of the day was seeing spiritual fathers, Fr Ben Gandy from St Catherine Laboure and Fr John Nguyen OFM Cap, attend with their own parents, with both couples celebrating significant anniversaries.
Fr Nguyen reflected on his parents Huu Ke and Thi Lan Nguyen and their 45-year marriage which began in struggle and hardship as Vietnamese refugees arriving in Australia to build a life “from scratch” and their role in his journey to the priesthood.
“Straight after they were married they became Vietnamese refugees. They left everything behind, wanting a good future for us kids. And they made that sacrifice six days, six nights along the border, as refugees in the Philippines for a year.
“And then raising us up with basically nothing to begin with in Australia. And look where we are now,” Fr John exclaimed, hugging them both.
Asked how their strength and love has been a consistent model of faith and strength for him, he emphasised: “Perseverance, really stands out. Fighting. They fought the battles, and I’ve got my spiritual battles that I’m fighting as well, and I’m learning from them as role models. So, it’s a real day of celebration. “
Fr Gandy reflected on how his parents Peter and Lisa were integral to his faith journey: “The stability of the domestic church, having the solid prayer life taught from the home is so important. Just doing the basics. That really was the seeds of my vocation.”
His father, Peter, gave tribute to the role Fr Ben’s grandparents had in the legacy of faith intrinsic to their family life.
“It’s not just us, it’s our parents, who were very devoted Catholics. So, we’ve had that string of constant continuity all the way.”
His mother Lisa also attributed the longevity of their bond to the faith of their son: “Ben’s faith has backed us up. You know, when we are struggling or vice versa. That’s what I think family’s all about. Walking the journey together.”
“In a time when marriages and families face so many challenges, it is more important than ever to nurture the beauty and strength of faithful marriages and family life,” Lim reflected.
“Today we were blessed to see this lived out, with 300 people joyfully gathered, to see multigenerational families coming to Mass together. It is so inspiring to witness couples married for 40, 50, 60 years, bearing love and hope to those still early in the journey.”
