Date: 9/21/2023
Tags: Family
Several weeks ago, I wrote my Mayor’s Message about how Cathy and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. We celebrated this occasion by renewing our vows in church, and then taking our family out to dinner. While we didn’t take any trips or host a banquet with friends and family, the simplicity of our celebration was our way of saying that we appreciate the fact that we were fortunate to celebrate our love for one another for the last 50 years.
This past Sunday, we had an opportunity to attend a “Jubilarian’s Mass” at Holy Name Cathedral in downtown Chicago. While this was not on our “celebration” list of activities, my cousin Rich, (who is also celebrating 50 years with his wife Maureen), invited us to join them at Holy Name for this beautiful event. When we arrived at Holy Name, we were participants with about 400 – 600 other couples. We managed to find excellent seats about 10 rows from the front of the church, which gave us a beautiful view of the proceedings.
While I found all of this quite beautiful to witness, I was most impressed by the Cardinal’s homily where he discussed not only the gift of a 50-year relationship, he presented what he believed was a gift that we all received that has assisted us throughout our 50 years of marriage; that gift is the gift of forgiveness. He stated that each of us throughout our marriages have experienced the “ups and downs” that life puts in our way, and in many cases, being able to forgive your partner for any of their failings, large or small, is a sign of our love for one another and contributed to our marriages thriving over 50 years.
The Cardinal’s homily regarding forgiveness gave me pause to think about not only my relationship with my wife, but my relationships with my children, my friends and those who I have come in contact with throughout my life. While I have always considered myself a compassionate man, I really need to go back and examine how well I practice the art of forgiveness. In the future, I will be more cognizant of how I respond to those who might offend me or one of my family members, and I will hopefully remember the Cardinal’s homily and Reverend King’s suggestion that “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”