Mass to Celebrate Marriage and the Family
and for the Blessing of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 8th September, 2002, at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am delighted to be one with the regular members of our congregation, married couples and their families and our Diocesan Council for the Family in this Mass to celebrate marriage and the family. It is the day in the year when we normally honour the birthday of Mary, the Mother of God, into a human family.

We are mindful that because Jesus described the love of husband and wife as a mirror of his love for the Church, then we can take confidence that if our family life is one of giving rather than taking, we will grow in love and service and the Lord will continually speak to us in the context of those he has placed with us.

Let us pray for all families, especially those burdened by suffering or estrangement, as we call to mind our sins and resolve to grow with the grace of God and come closer to what he has called us to be.

Homily

“Where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Quite regularly when we speak about the family we do so in an idealised way. We remember the reality that the family is the domestic church, the love of husband and wife, the image of the love of Christ for his Church.

Today we thank God for married life and married love, for families and in the events of everyday life above all I believe it is important to realise that it is in our families, as they are, rather than as we would like them to be, that we find the Lord ready to work. I was particularly touched by the sharing given by some families in the leaflet which our Council for the Family has made available.

I say this because the consideration of disabled family members leads us to a deeper realisation. Pope John Paul spoke at his address on the Jubilee of the Disabled, “First of all the right that every disabled man and woman has in every country of the world to a dignified life is not only a question of satisfying their specific needs, but even more of seeing their own desire for acceptance and autonomy recognised. Integration must become an attitude and a culture. At the same time law makers and government leaders must give their consistent support to this cause.”

What I found particularly touching about the story of one disabled young person applies much more broadly and to all families. One parent said, ‘My daughter cannot talk, uses some sign language, will never sing sweetly, yell angrily, recite poetry, play an instrument, tell her family how much she loves them or dislikes them as the case may be.’
Then come the telling words, ‘She brings us to Christ in his weakness and suffering. She has enabled us to live in deep faith and a belief that he is near and will care for us all through the good times and the bad. We have had the good fortune to be able to closely live each day caring for the suffering of Christ, entering into his passion, his vulnerability, his humanness and his divinity.’

And now a contrast. Society sees people like Mary, who are the most disabled and profoundly affected, as an affliction of cost. Our society sees disability as an error and something to be avoided at all costs, even to the point of aborting those children who may be flawed in some physical or intellectual way. Seemingly, they remove the deep suffering and economic cost to families and society. Yes, the cost is great if the mere economics overshadow the blessedness of life.

The presence of a disabled person in the family changes our focus into what is real and lasting. This is a lesson for all of us. The mother said, ‘When I look into Mary’s eyes I see the eyes of a saint, the eyes of Christ who encourages us to invite the lame and afflicted into our lives. Mary can never consciously sin as we do. There is no such capacity. She is pure and nearer to God than we will ever know. This is the spiritual essence of her existence, the spiritual strength of her life. Those people who have had the privilege of caring for Mary and those like her are caring for the wounded Christ, the pure Christ, and in so doing they open themselves up to the realisation of spiritual union with him.’

What I say of disability I mean of course of many of the problems which our families encounter. The mother goes on to say, ‘Yes, joys and sorrows abound when disability enters one’s life, especially for parents, but without a sense of spiritual faith there are sorrows unlimited. Joy comes in the acceptance of God’s will and the acceptance that this human being is of the highest spiritual value. God has chosen them to enter our family, to bring union with Christ to the deepest level imaginable.’

Pope John Paul II’s Jubilee address points out that the Church is a love that seeks out, so that all feel welcomed and embraced in her love. First among those welcomed and embraced are families, especially those with children with disabilities. He concludes with these magnificent words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake, for great will be their reward in heaven.
In our family life and in the challenges that we face let us see the paradox of Christian hope: what seems humanly a ruin is in the Divine plan always a plan of salvation. Christ our travelling companion is our joy.” (Pope John Paul II)

Dear brothers and sisters, the prayer today speaks of God making us children in Christ and reminds us that his perspectives on family life are the ones which will really give hope. Let us make our response to the Lord’s assurance that he is present with two or three gathered in our name as the joy and challenge of our families. We urge you to follow it, “If today you hear his voice harden not your hearts.” God is inviting us to a new vision of the eternal and beautiful in the ordinary, the challenging, the cross and resurrection of our family life. May the same Lord be with each and every one of you as today, in union with his Mother, we honour our families.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.