NEWARK, NJ — During an afternoon filled with celebration, love and joy, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, archbishop of Newark, blessed more than 150 couples who have achieved 50 years of marriage at an uplifting golden anniversary Mass on May 15 in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Husbands and wives from throughout the Archdiocese of Newark — some women wearing their wedding veils — held each others’ rings as Tobin asked God to sanctify their love, praying that the couples grow in the sacrament of matrimony’s grace.
“At times like this, when we can look back, we think of all those moments when Jesus was there, when Jesus loved us then even when we weren’t sure we loved each other or loved him,” Tobin said in his homily. “And the good news is that’s not going to end.”
Tobin spoke with each couple following the Mass, listening to their reflections and congratulating them on their half-century of commitment to one another. He then presented them with pins commemorating their semicentennial anniversaries.
The golden anniversary Mass was a celebration of the Archdiocese of Newark’s Office for Family Life Ministry.
Photos Courtesy of Sean Quinn/Archdiocese of Newark
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