Couples celebrating milestone wedding anniversaries were celebrated at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s annual Jubilee Mass on Saturday, Oct. 5, at St. John Neumann, Waukesha. (Photos by Greta Taxis)
Couples marking milestone wedding anniversaries totaling 4,949 years in 2024 celebrated the sacrament of marriage and all its graces at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s annual Jubilee Mass on Oct. 5.
Ninety couples celebrating 25 years of marriage or more (many more, in some cases) attended the special Mass at St. John Neumann Parish in Waukesha, with Bishop Jeffrey R. Haines presiding.
Addressing those gathered, Bishop Haines observed that the love in the air was palpable.
“When Dcn. Tom (Hunt) and I entered the church today, we automatically got this wonderful feeling,” Bishop Haines said. “All those years of marriage and all of the beautiful things that have been accomplished in your lives have been a blessing to not only you and your family, but all of us. We are so grateful for that and want to give praise and thanksgiving in the best way that we know how: with the gift of the Eucharist.”
Associate Director of Adult Formation and Marriage and Family Life for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Doug Ulaszek, who organized the event, reported that of those in attendance, eight couples celebrated silver anniversaries (25 years) and 35 celebrated gold anniversaries (50 years) sometime this year.
One couple, Robert and Jayne O’Malley of Mukwonago, celebrated their 50th anniversary the day of the Jubilee Mass. The O’Malleys were married at the now-closed St. Aloysius Parish in West Allis, where Jayne’s parents were also wed. This was the O’Malleys’ first time attending a Jubilee Mass, during which couples received a special blessing.
“We were both moved to tears,” Jayne said afterward.
The O’Malleys, who raised four children, credit the strength of their marriage in no small part to their faith, which they cultivated in one another over the years: Robert becoming a catechist in the youth ministry at St. James in Mukwonago and Jayne joining the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In their union, the O’Malleys find love in all the “little things” — from making the bed to brewing a pot of coffee.
“It’s in the simplest things that there is huge love,” Jayne said.
Beyond the silver and gold milestones, 47 other couples in attendance celebrated anniversaries exceeding 50 years. Dale and Geraldine Lachacz of New Berlin, who celebrated their 71st anniversary this year, were married the longest. Along with their faith, they attributed the “two L’s” to their longevity.
“Loving and listening,” Dale Lachacz said, as to what makes a successful marriage. “It’s all about communication.”
One of their proudest achievements is their family: their four boys — who are now all married — have celebrated silver anniversaries of their own.
During his homily, Bishop Haines observed that though the readings weren’t specifically about marriage, there were still some fruitful connections that could be made to the mission-focused reading from the Gospel of Luke.
Like the disciples sent out by Jesus, married couples are called to live out their faith and share God’s blessings and peace.
“Marriage is a sacrament. It’s an experience of grace — not only for you, but the love that you have for each other is so profound it is shared with other people,” Bishop Haines said. “You’ve blessed us all with the love from your hearts for each other, which then you shared with all of us in the way you lived your life.”
In this way, Bishop Haines concluded, married couples are missionaries.
“Through your love, your witness of faith, your perseverance and sacrifice, and your generosity, you set examples for all of us,” he said.
Disciples were also called to bring peace. Peace, in the Biblical sense of “shalom,” isn’t just the absence of war or fighting, Haines said, it’s a broader sense of peace and love in which people live in harmony and care for each other.
“If you’ve heard the word ‘shalom’ before, that is what it means,” he said. “Be filled with God’s blessings, and may you live in the midst of that harmony and that goodness.”
The mission of shalom, Haines said, is what those gathered for the Jubilee Mass lived out in their marriages — and that is no small feat.
“You worked at it each and every day,” he said, “with your family, your kids, your grandkids and extended family — trying to keep that sense of shalom in your household — but also, sending it out into the world.”
The Jubilee Mass has been an annual tradition in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for more than 100 years, according to Ulaszek. It is an opportunity not only to recognize and honor the accomplishment of milestone anniversaries, but also an invitation to couples to reflect on the blessings — and challenges — that have filled those years.
“Doing this in the context of Mass reminds us of God’s abiding presence through the joys, and particularly the crosses, that accompany daily married life, giving him thanks for all the grace poured out through the Sacrament of Matrimony,” Ulaszek said.
In a time and culture when people run from pain or are tempted to view everything with a temporary lens, it is also important to recognize the fidelity and longevity of marriage, Ulaszek said.
“These couples stand as a living witness to the ‘yes’ that marriage requires daily,” he said.
“Our world needs that witness, and these couples embody it through their marriages.”
