Homily: 50th Wedding Anniversary: Renato and Imelda March 18-2026.

-

 “In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people.”

Dear Renato and Imelda,

It is truly a joy and an honor for me to celebrate this Mass with you today as you mark 50 years of marriage. What a beautiful milestone fifty years of love, sacrifice, faith, and perseverance.

As you know, during the season of Lent, the Church does not allow special readings for occasions like this. We keep the readings of the day. But I truly believe that today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah is perfectly chosen by God for you.

God says: “I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people.”

Renato and Imelda, God has given both of you as a covenant—not only to each other, but to your family, your children, your grandchildren, your relatives, and your friends.

Your marriage has been a visible sign of God’s faithfulness.

Through your life together, God has blessed many:

• the life of your children,

• the love that has been shared in your family,

• the example you have given to others.

Today we thank God for all the blessings He has given through your faithfulness over these fifty years.

Looking back, you can see how God has answered your prayers—sometimes in ways you expected, and sometimes in ways you did not. You have experienced His help in times of difficulty, His strength in moments of weakness, and His presence in both joy and sorrow.

And today, God renews His promise to you. The reading ends with these beautiful words:

“Can a mother forget her infant…? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”

What a powerful assurance.

The God who brought you together… The God who walked with you through fifty years… is the same God who will continue to be with you.

So much has changed in these fifty years.

Many of the people who were present at your wedding are no longer with you. Society has changed. Technology has changed. Even your own lives have changed with time and age. But one thing has never changed:

God’s love.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And I am sure, if we ask you today, you can confidently say what we prayed in the responsorial psalm:

“The Lord is gracious and merciful.”

For a couple celebrating fifty years, I do not have advice like I would give at a wedding homily. Instead, I simply invite you to hold on to one line from today’s Gospel:

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”

God has been at work in your life for fifty years. And now, you are still called to continue that work.

Continue loving.

Continue serving.

Continue being a witness to your family and to all who know you.

Do not grow tired of doing good.

The same Lord who has guided you these fifty years will continue to walk with you, protect you, and lead you safely the rest of your life.

May God bless you both abundantly.

Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: march 15, 2026, Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday)

-
 “Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.” This is one of the most powerful scenes in the Old Testament. A young shepherd boy was suddenly anointed the king of Israel – the least-expected to be king material, yet God chose him. David did not come from any royal line. There were no kings before in his family. He was young, tender in experience, and in the eyes of the world, he didn’t look promising as compared to his older brothers. The prophet Samuel saw more potential in David’s older brothers, yet God chose him. God reminded Samuel: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.” God saw something in David’s heart which made him the perfect king for God, something no one else could see. Dear catechumens and candidates, in just twenty-one days, you will be fully initiated into the Catholic faith during Easter Vigil. Y...
Read more

Homily: March 17, 2026, Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent (Water)

-
 “Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live… wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.” Where there is water, there is life. The prophet Ezekiel in today’s first reading, tells us with great detail the prophetic vision he had, about the water of life which flowed from the temple. If you have read the book The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, you would know something about my home in India, the state of Kerala. It is a small state. Iowa is almost three times the size of Kerala. But Kerala has a lot more water than Iowa. The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs 1,600 km along the western coast of India, covering several states including Kerala. It is an important watershed, keeping in the rain clouds thus bringing much rainfall, and feeding many rivers. Because of that, Kerala has forty-four major rivers. Forty-one of them flow toward the Arabian Sea and three toward the east. Rain is plentiful throughout the year e...
Read more

Homily: March 16, 2026, Monday of the Fourth week in lent (God rescues)

-
“I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” This was our response in today’s responsorial psalm, an expression of our gratitude and praise to God. The word ‘rescued’ triggered a memory. Recently a family invited me to dinner. They have two little boys, a two-year-old and a four-year-old. They asked me over mainly because the boys wanted to play with me. When I was there, the four-year-old came to me and said very seriously, “Father, you are stuck in the mud. I will rescue you!” Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me with his might, as if really trying to get me out of mud. After that he asked, “Are you okay?” I had to answer, “Yes I am ok, thank you.” A few minutes later he would come to me and repeat the same: “Father, you are stuck in the mud. I will rescue you!” I don’t remember how many times he did that, but he never seemed tired of repeating it. He loved the idea of rescuing me, someone who seemed to be enjoying being rescued by him too!  In a much deeper and more real...
Read more

Homily: March 13, 2026, Friday of the third Week in Lent (Trees)

-
 “I am like a verdant cypress tree - because of me you bear fruit.” These words from today’s first reading from the prophet Hosea caught my attention, especially because of the image of trees. From a very young age, I enjoyed exploring nature - plants, trees, and animals. I learned a lot about nature not from books, but from my father and grandfather. They knew the forest very well and built their home in the forest. They taught me how to recognize different trees from their smell, structure, strength, and usefulness. In those days, none of the trees mentioned in the Bible grew in our part of India, so they triggered my curiosity. I remember wondering about the story of Adam and Eve hiding themselves with fig leaves. I asked my grandfather, “What kind of leaves are fig leaves?” My grandfather had no idea. He simply said, “Maybe something big like teak tree leaves!” And there were no gyms in our village, so if you want to build some muscles, you must find other ways. My mother saw t...
Read more

Homily: March 3, 2026, Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent (Talk-Walk)

-
 "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” It is commonly said that ‘talk is cheap’. It is very easy to say what is right, what is good, what is impressive. But it is not easy to walk the talk, to live out what we speak about. In today’s Gospel, we understood that the scribes and the Pharisees talked a lot. Their position gave them the right to teach the law of Moses. But their ways did not match up. Jesus too taught a lot. But what gave power to Jesus’ teaching was not any official title He held. It was His integrity. His words and His works matched. His walk and His talk matched. He was authentic. What about us? As parents, teachers, priests, leaders, elders – we speak and teach often. People hear us but they are also watching us. Finally, especially children, they model us. They may hear us, but effectively, they follow what they see us do. The powe...
Read more

Homily: March 25, 2025, Solemnity of the Annunciation ()

-
 "Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us!'"  One book I read during my school days was titled: ‘The God of Small Things’. The book has nothing to do with God or religion, but I like the title because it reminds me that our God is also a God of small things. He appreciates and takes pleasure even when we offer Him the littlest effort or prayer or joy of our day. And He too often shows Himself in simple, silent humble signs. In today’s first reading, King Ahaz was given the opportunity to ask for a great sign from God, but he rejected, claiming to not want to test the Lord. Still, God chose to give him a sign anyway - not in a big way, but something simple yet powerful: "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son." This sign is simple yet powerful because while it is normal for a woman to bear a child, it is impossible for a virgin to do so. Only ...
Read more

Homily: February 27, 2026Friday of the First Week in Lent (Salvation)

-
 “Since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” In the spiritual tradition of the Church, we often talk about the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. Death is certain for each one of us. We will all die one day.  Judgment is also certain. It is part of our encounter with God. He is the ultimate Judge. Then the final destination. It is not heaven and hell, it is heaven or hell. Each of us will have the freedom to choose. Do you think everyone will choose heaven? Many do not want hell, but that does not mean they want heaven. Choosing heaven means choosing God, choosing His will. This is where we all failed. Everyone has sinned. But in today’s first reading, the prophet Ezekiel gives all of us a great big hope: our past does not have the final word. The hope is that if a person turns away from sin, if they repent and choose what is right, they shall live - repent and believe in the Gospel! Many people, myself ...
Read more

Homily: December 2, 2025, Tuesday of the First Week of Advent (Knowledge)

-
“There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;  for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,  as water covers the sea.” How beautiful this promise is, the entire earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea. Imagine a world where every heart, every home, every nation is filled with the knowledge of God. What a different world that would be. Knowledge is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But this knowledge does not simply mean information it means truly knowing God: knowing His heart, His will, His love, His commandments. This is the very purpose of human life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1721 teaches: God placed us in the world to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him, and so to come to Paradise. And notice the order: Know> Love> Serve. We cannot love someone we do not know, and we cannot serve someone we do not love. So how do we know God? The Psalm tells us:  “Be still and know that I am God” (Psal...
Read more

Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

-
For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it. The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.” The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.” Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie? It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we can...
Read more

Homily: December 28, 2025, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Dreams)

-
 “The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.’” As a young man, Joseph must have had beautiful dreams about his future family. He could have imagined a helpful and capable wife, children playing around the house and growing up to be well respected people in the community, a vision of a stable and peaceful life. When he got engaged to Mary, it seemed like his dreams would become reality soon. Many of us, married or not, can identify with the dreams that Joseph could have had. Yet like Joseph, the realities of our lives would have unfolded quite differently from how we have dreamt it. Joseph’s family life turned out totally unlike his own dreams, yet he continued to dream, now with God’s will revealed and God’s plan unfolding in the reality of his life. The hardship he went through in Bethlehem, with the birth of Jesus, did not end there. Today’s Gospel shows another unexpected cha...
Read more