During a recent weekend at my parish, the Catholic Community of St. Jude, DeWitt, we celebrated a wedding on Saturday afternoon, a 50th wedding anniversary at the Saturday evening Mass, baccalaureate for our parish’s high school graduates at the first Sunday Mass and an infant baptism at the second Sunday Mass. In some ways, this seems to be a typical weekend for our parish community. As the parish continues to grow, it’s natural to celebrate so many important events as part of our regular worship.

On a deeper level, there is a beautiful thread that bound together that weekend’s events. At that Saturday afternoon’s wedding, Christopher and Amanda pledged their love and fidelity to one another, forming a married partnership oriented toward life and love. On Saturday evening, Barb and Arden joined with their family and friends to thank God for 50 years of blessings and challenges as part of their married life. On Sunday morning, as we gathered with nearly 30 graduates and their families, we celebrated the opening of a new chapter in the graduates’ lives and the many lessons of faith they have learned with their parish family. Our graduates’ presence among us bore witness not only to their faith, but also to their parents’ faith and commitment.

Finally, as Sean and Amanda brought their son, Corbin, for baptism, we celebrated their commitment to one another and their willingness to share their faith in Christ Jesus with Corbin and his two older brothers. In one weekend, our parish community celebrated many aspects of the blessings that flow from the commitment of married life.

Any married couple will readily admit, however, that their commitment to one another and to their family requires prayer, hard work, sacrifice, patience, trust and a healthy dose of humor. Sometimes, some extra help is required in assisting couples to repair, deepen and strengthen their commitment to one another. Several years ago, we met Nick and Virginia O’Shea. Having weathered their own challenges, the O’Sheas benefitted from the help of Retrouvaille, which helped them to repair their marriage. Fifteen years after their Retrouvaille experience, Virginia and Nick have been assisting countless other couples to rebuild and strengthen their marriages.

For many years Worldwide Marriage Encounter has been working to make “good marriages even better.”  Through the gift of a Marriage Encounter retreat, Jane and Scott Cunningham were able to revive the passion, fun and intimacy that had become dormant in their relationship. The Marriage Encounter is a very powerful way in which the Church continues to minister to married couples.

On June 12, Bishop Mengeling ordained three men as priests to serve the people of the Diocese of Lansing. With great joy we welcome Frs. Lew Eberhart, Bob Roggenbuck and Nate Sokol. Their faithful commitment to priestly ministry will benefit the Church for many years to come.

The Sixth Commandment reminds us about the power of commitment to bring forth God’s blessings in our lives. In living out our commitments to one another, we have countless opportunities for our relationship with God to grow and deepen. And so our journey in FAITH continues.