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On August 20, my sabbatical began. After spending a few days in San Diego, I went to Detroit to visit some family and friends. My main purpose in going was to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary Mass of Bob and Doreen Saur.
Doreen is the sister of Fr. Larry Du Charme, my best friend, who was a mentor to me in the priesthood and in life. I came to know, respect and love this man in the eleven years of my priesthood in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Over the years, as I got to know Fr. Larry, I got to know and love his family.
Fr. Larry died of colon cancer at the age of 63 in 1996. Many parishioners may remember Fr. Larry leading an Advent Mission for Santa Sophia in December, 1995. It was one of the last of his “priestly works” and it gave him great joy.
At the time of his death, Doreen and Bob asked if I would be present for their 50th anniversary Mass in the year 2000. Of course, I said yes! Thus, my presence in Detroit.
The Anniversary Mass was a quiet, simple Mass celebrated in the basement of their home (do Californians know what basements are?) with just their immediate family present. This is and has always been Bob and Doreen’s style - quiet, simple, unadorned but so faith-filled!
The Mass and reception afterwards reminded me, once again, as all anniversary celebrations do, that lifetime, permanent commitments are possible.
Not only are they possible, they are incredibly needed today! Maybe more so than ever before!
As I led in the celebration of the Eucharist with their family, celebrating 50 years of life and love, of joy and struggle, the message was shouted out in the silences of the Mass - “Yes, all the hard work and sacrifice was worth it! There is peace, stability and security that has been created and given to this family because of our decision to be faithful to God and to one another. We have given a precious gift to our children and grandchildren that will make a difference in their lives. And there were no shortcuts to this gift! It simply took 50 years to create the gift!”.
There are no easy routes and shortcuts with Gospel living. Jesus demonstrated that to us with the giving of His very life! If we want to hand on good gifts, real inheritance, to our children and grandchildren, it will cost us dearly.! It will cost us our lives in our efforts to be faithful and to be committed to the promises that we make to each other.
There are many people in our world today who believe that life-time commitments are not possible or that they are not needed.
Our Faith teaches us otherwise! Our God is the Faithful Lover! We are reminded of this over and over again in the Scriptures. Yahweh says through Moses and His prophets, “I am your God. You are my people and I shall be with you always.”
The basis of our Faith is that God has chosen us, each and every one of us, to live in covenant with Him. Our God is the God who never walks away from us, who is always there for us, no matter how many times we may walk away from Him. The God who loves us unconditionally is the God who calls us each day to live in covenant with Him.
As married persons, as vowed religious, as single people living and awaiting God’s promises in our lives, we are called to be faithful to one another, day in and day out - as God is faithful with us.
The most needed charism in this new millennium, I believe, is the charism of permanence - the belief that we can make covenants with one another as God has made with us; that we can be faithful to one another, unconditionally, as God has been faithful to us - in life, until death, into eternity.
The most needed charism for this new millennium is the charism of permanence. As a People of Faith, let us imitate our God and give this gift to our families. friends and world. This gift of permanence, for which we are willing to sacrifice until death, does bring peace, stability and security to the next generation!
Can we, and with God’s help, are we willing to say to those around us, as our God says to us, “I am your spouse, your lover, your friend, your parent, your sibling, your child, and you are my “people”. I will ALWAYS be with you”?
Let us pray for each other as we continue to ‘permanentize’ our relationships!
The four pictures above show the Saur celebration on Sunday September 3,2000 that was so sweet: Bob and Doreen, their children and grandchildren, and the celebrant who was privileged to be there as the couple of 50 years renewed their vows and pledged "until death do we part" and celebrated the wonder of God and His covenant!
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