Celebrating the Vocation of Marriage
 February 7-14 is celebrated by the Catholic Church in the United States as “National Marriage Week,” and this Sunday, February 10 is “National Marriage Day.” To observe this, we will have a special blessing of all married people at our Masses this Sunday. When I was the Vocation Director for the Diocese and would ask people what they thought of when I said the word “vocation,” I would often hear “priesthood” or “nuns” in response. To be sure, these are beautiful vocations, but they are not the only vocations within the Church. Occasionally, someone would call out “marriage,” and I always made a special point to give praise for that response. Not only is marriage a true vocation, but it is, in a sense, the first, most natural, and most common of vocations within the Church. It is the primary way that people choose to live out their baptismal call to holiness. And yet, marriage is not somehow “in competition” with those other vocations. I often tell people that I could only say my “I do’s” at the altar the morning of my priestly ordination, because my parents had first said their “I do’s” at the altar many years earlier. My vocation flowed out of theirs. After nearly 65 years of marriage my parents are still teaching me how to love sacrificially; in other words, how to be a priest. And now, as a priest and as Chaplain here at St. Ambrose, I have the awesome privilege and responsibility of preparing couples for this great sacrament and witnessing their “I do’s’” on behalf of the Church. It comes around full circle. In this National Marriage Week, let us make a special commitment to pray for married couples, especially those who may be struggling in their marriages, and to pray for all those who are preparing for marriage, especially those who will be married here this year. Fr. Thom |
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