Diocese to celebrate sacrament of marriage on Valentine’s Day

By Joyce Coronel | January 15, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Valentine’s Day for couples often includes candy, flowers or a romantic restaurant. One of the best-kept secrets in town, however, may be the annual marriage celebration at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.

On Feb. 14, married couples are invited to attend a special bilingual Mass and luncheon with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. This is the ninth year the Diocese of Phoenix will hold the event.

Syndicated columnist Mary Moore and her husband Mark will present a talk they call “Good Marriages Don’t Happen in a Vacuum” at the luncheon following the Mass.

“Mark and I will be sharing some of our joys and struggles as a married couple, focusing on the two things every Catholic marriage has in common — its own crazy uniqueness and its sacramentality. Both are essential to God’s plan for every married couple to reach their ultimate goal of getting to heaven together,” Mary said.

Parents of three children and active in the marriage preparation ministry for years, the couple is well-acquainted with the topic and sees the event as a great opportunity to encourage couples.

Those who will celebrate a 25th, 40th or 50th anniversary during 2008-2009 will receive a special blessing from Bishop Olmsted. They will also be presented with a blessed certificate suitable for framing.

“Few things could be more encouraging to a marriage than to witness another of 25 or more years. It’s a shot in the arm for all of us,” Mary said.

Mike Phelan, director of the Office of Marriage and Respect Life Issues, said the event is important because the Church honors marriage profoundly.

“The idea of Christian marriage was one of the great social revolutions caused by Christianity’s beginnings,” Phelan said. “Now that our society is truly asking the questions ‘Why marriage?’ and ‘What is marriage?’ it is more important than ever that we joyfully celebrate marriage’s obvious truth, goodness and beauty.”

The recognition of milestone anniversaries for the couples, Phelan said, is because “these men and women have demonstrated perseverance, sacrificial love and brought life into the world through children and in other ways simply by living their sacramental vocation to marriage.”