God calls each of us to a vocation, Bishop Edward Malesic told those who gathered Jan. 28 at Vosh in Lakewood for the Marriages of Grace CanaNight. For many, that vocation is marriage.
“I am grateful to have an organization like Marriages of Grace here in the diocese to be a solid resource for couples to help strengthen them in the marriage bond. You would not be here if you didn’t take the sacrament of matrimony seriously. Thank all of you for your faithfulness and commitment to your vocation,” he said.
Marriages of Grace, founded by Tanis and Bill Merimee in 2012, is a nonprofit organization with the mission of enriching and strengthening Catholic marriages in Jesus Christ. The group has sponsored an annual Marriage Enrichment Day since 2008 and hosts other events throughout the year. Tanis Merimee said Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez supported the organization when he was bishop of Cleveland and asked them to help begin a group in the archdiocese. That group will have its first event in early April, she added.
“We are slowly working toward a model that can be implemented in any diocese,” Merimee said.
Bishop Malesic thanked the Merimees, Father Barry Gearing, pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in Strongsville and spiritual director for Marriages of Grace, as well as others who helped plan the program. “This is an amazing gathering of people,” he said, reminding them that they are the diocese.
Priests and deacons are required to continue their formation after ordination, something he said could apply to married couples as well after their wedding. “Marriage is a lifelong project, a friendship for life that, like any relationship, must always be a work in progress,” he said.
The bishop said he finds it providential that the second reading for Sunday’s liturgies is St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in which he speaks of love as the greatest gift of all. In fact, the reading frequently is used at marriage liturgies, he said, calling it “ageless advice from St. Paul for our couples today.”
The reading reminds him of his parents, the bishop said, recalling that they were deeply in love, something he and his siblings could see. They also were devout Catholics who raised their children in the way of faith.
His mother died about 15 years and the bishop said his father, now 104, misses her. “They completed each other,” he said, noting they raised four children and buried two of them. His mother credited her faith with helping her through the deaths of his brother and sister.
Marriage can be difficult, the bishop said, explaining it’s more than just a physical attraction. “It’s a commitment to give yourself fully to another person for life. It’s a choice, a decision, much like my decision to become a priest. Ordination was a choice,” he said.
“The best gift you can give your children is to love your spouse,” Bishop Malesic said. “Teach those around you what it means to be a symbol of Christ’s love for his Church. You’re a sacrament that bears God’s grace of love to the world.”
He talked about “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, which he said is meant to echo the conviction that the Christian family is good news and to help the Church draw close to families in all situations. “The Joy of Love has been characterized as a love letter from the pope to families – a love letter inviting all of us, especially married couples and families – to never stop growing in love. It is also a love letter calling the Church, the family of God, to realize ore and more her mission to live and love as a family.”
Bishop Malesic cited four parts of the exhortation that are among his favorites:
The welfare of the family is decisive for the future of the world and that of the Church.
If a family is centered on Christ, he will unify and illumine its entire life.
Gradually, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, spouses grow in holiness through married life, also by sharing the mystery of Christ’s cross, which transforms difficulties into an offering of love.
Family prayer is a special way of expressing and strengthening this paschal faith.
There is much to take away from the Joy of Love, he said, adding Pope Francis is calling us “to enter more deeply into the beauty of marriage and Christ’s teaching.”
The bishop urged the group to “go out and tell the good news that marriage is a beautiful way of life. It is difficult, but so is life. But marriage is a partnership for life that is directed to a goal: the salvation of souls. A husband helps his wife to find salvation in Christ and a wife helps her husband to find salvation in Christ. Together, a married couple teach us about love, faith, Christ’s care for the Church and they give us the means to pass on the saving Gospel to their children and community.”
This article is reposted from an article written on January 28th, 2022 from News of the Diocese