‘Say yes every day’ — couples celebrate 50-plus years of marriage

More than 100 couples celebrating 50 years of marriage — plus a few marking their 60th, 65th, and 70th years together — were blessed by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, at the Archdiocese of Newark’s annual Golden Anniversary Mass on April 16 in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. 

The spouses — who traveled from throughout Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties to attend the Mass — held each other’s wedding rings as Cardinal Tobin asked God to sanctify their love, praying that the husbands and wives grow in the sacrament of matrimony’s grace. The cardinal also commended those present for choosing to commit their lives to another person despite the potential for difficulties in the relationship, calling it a “blessed act of faith.” 

“How could you see what lay before you? How could you know then what for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer would really mean?” Cardinal Tobin said in his homily. “Your presence here today means that the faith you expressed in each other on your wedding day was also trust in the God who made you, in Jesus who called you, and in the Holy Spirit, who continues to illuminate your path.” 

Jim Keegan, parishioner of St. Andrew’s in Westwood and husband to Maryann Keegan for 50 years, said he has been looking forward to attending the annual Mass for years. 

The couple was married at St. Margaret’s in Little Ferry on June 30, 1973. They later moved to Westwood and joined St. Andrew’s, where they raised their two daughters. Maryann was the secretary to the youth minister at the church for 34 years, and Jim was a lector. Both are Eucharistic ministers. 

On their 50 years of marriage, Jim said, “There’s no secret to it. You have to be committed to each other and God.” 

Maryann’s advice was to “always be accepting of one another.” 

Ricardo and Norma Fernandez, celebrating 61 years of marriage this year, also attended the Mass. They were married on June 28, 1962, in Cuba. 

Members at St. Cecilia Church in Kearny, they are coordinators for pre-Cana, preparing young couples for the sacrament of marriage. 

Ricardo and Norma Fernandez on their wedding day and after 61 years of marriage. (Courtesy the Fernandez)

While Ricardo said their marriage is “natural” for them, Norma advises young couples to be ready for differences in marriage, as “God made us all different. 

“I tell them to say ‘yes’ to each other every day,” Norma said. 

After the Mass, Cardinal Tobin expressed a particular fellowship with the couples celebrating their 50th anniversaries, pointing out that it has been 50 years since he professed his own vows as a member of his religious order, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.  He then met with each couple to personally congratulate them on their milestone anniversaries. He also presented them with gold pins depicting interlocked wedding rings in front of a cross — a symbol that Christ is at the center of every strong, Catholic marriage. 

Jim said the Mass emphasized the importance of the Church community in supporting couples and families.  

The number of couples who were celebrating 50 years of the sacrament of marriage was moving, he said. 

Ricardo agreed. Laughing, he said, “I was surprised by the number of gray-haired couples celebrating 50 or more years of the sacrament.” 

The Golden Anniversary Mass was a celebration of the archdiocesan Office for Family Life Ministry, which strengthens families’ faith by hosting programs, providing ministry support training for parishes, and offering other spiritual initiatives. Its next gathering will be a Mass recognizing couples celebrating their 5th and 25th wedding anniversaries on Sunday, May 7, at 3 p.m. inside the Cathedral Basilica, with Auxiliary Bishop Gregory J. Studerus presiding. For more information on the Office for Family Life Ministry, visit www.rcan.org/offices-and-ministries/family-life/mission-staff. 

Photos by Sean Quinn, Archdiocese of Newark