Bishop Persico presides over Milestone Anniversary Celebration Mass
Sunday afternoon was a momentous occasion for a number of couples from the community and throughout the area as they joined together at St. Mary’s Church for a Milestone Anniversary Celebration Mass presided over by The Most Reverend Lawrence T. Persico, Bishop of Erie.
The Mass was one of two currently scheduled by the Diocese of Erie to celebrate couples celebrating milestone anniversaries of 25 or more years. The other Mass is scheduled to be held at Holy Cross Parish in Fairview on Aug. 7.
In his homily on Sunday, Persico credited the couples for the examples of fidelity, love, and sacrifice that they have set in their years of married life.
Persico also noted that Christian marriage “is described as so holy a mystery that it symbolizes the marriage of Christ and his church, an image of the covenant between God and his people.”
“What we celebrate today is an example of how your lives and your marriages of 25, 50, or more years are not merely endurance and determination but the mystery of God’s love for his creation and how that love is revealed and lived,” Persico said.
Addressing each of the couples present, Persico spoke about struggles and challenges that come with marriage.
“As you reflect on your years of marriage, the stories and events that are likely racing through your minds and hearts hardly reflect the naïve, storybook, ideal, or fairytale notion of your relationship,” Persico said. “Quite the contrary – your stories and lives reflect hard work, struggle and pain, suffering and joy, and a selflessness that seeks the wellbeing of anoth