Diocesan couples renew their ‘I do’s’
 | Kathye and Wayne Beebe, parishioners of St. Bridget, River Falls, receive a certificate commemorating 40 years of marriage from Bishop Peter Christensen at the diocesan Wedding Jubilee Celebration, Saturday, July 10 at Christ the King Cathedral, Superior.
(The Catholic Herald/Christopher Lieberg) |
Cathryn Sprynczynatyk
Staff writer
SUPERIOR – Married couples from across the diocese are proving that love is patient, and love is kind by renewing their vows at the Diocesan Wedding Jubilee Celebration, Saturday, July 10. The couples, who have a combined 3,790 years of marriage, gathered to celebrate the vocation of marriage at Christ the King Cathedral in Superior.
Bishop Peter Christensen, who celebrated the Mass and led the renewal of wedding vows, said it is important to gather as a diocese and honor marriage.
“The vocation of marriage tends to be celebrated at a family level,” Bishop Christensen said. “It’s great to come together as a diocese and honor marriage in a public way.”
More than 80 couples came together to celebrate anniversaries of 25, 40, 50, 60 and 70 years of marriage. However, the celebration is open to couples with mitigating circumstance, said Deb Lieberg, chancellor. Sometimes a couple can’t make it due to an illness or a death in the family. Couples are welcome to attend even if they’re celebrating 53 years of marriage.
“It’s important to recognize marriage as a sacrament and recognize the people who are married that many years,” Lieberg said. “They go through the struggles, the happy times, the hardships. They do it as a team; they do it together.”
At the Mass, the bishop blesses wedding rings, and couples renew their vows. Often, the ceremony generates plenty of kisses and a few tears among the married couples and family members.
“You, married couples living your vows, witness like no one else the love of God for his people,” Bishop Christensen said in his homily.
Witnessing to marriage for 70 years
One couple witnessing to God’s love is Wilson and Leona Smith, celebrating 70 years of marriage. The couple, who attend Our Lady of Lourdes, Dobie, have lived their entire married life on the same farm where Wilson grew up.
The Smiths met on a double date with her sister and his brother who also married. Leona, who lost her wedding ring while working on their dairy farm, now wears her mother’s ring.
Their daughter, Lenore Johnson, came to the cathedral to celebrate their marriage. The most important thing the Smiths modeled to her was their mutual respect for each other.
When the bishop asked Leona to share their secret to a good marriage, she said they simply, “Took what came, and did our best.”
Deacon and wife discern two vocations together
Like many couples, Deacon Dennis Geisler and his wife, Mary Geisler, endured major life changes of marriage and then children. The Geislers, married 40 years, took on another major life change when Dennis entered the diaconate.
“We’ve really had to change our lives and make ourselves open to change,” Mary said.
“It’s a little unsettled right now, but that’s not so bad to be unsettled at times.”
Mary, who attended diaconate classes and retreats with her husband, said Dennis’ decision to enter the diaconate came through a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Both said the process strengthened their faith and their marriage.
“It’s forced us to realize that there’s a world outside our marriage, that there are needs and demands almost unlimited,” Dennis said. “We’ve had to learn to deal with those demands in addition to the demands of our marriage.”
Dennis, who is deacon at St. Joseph, Rice Lake, said his best advice to couples preparing for marriage is that they read Pope John Paul II’s teachings on the Theology of the Body.
“It does so much to maintain the dignity of womanhood and the fact that we’re created in God’s image,” Dennis said. “If we keep that in mind, things just go a lot better.”
Brother and sister celebrate anniversaries
When Gene and Barbara Risler were asked to list any guests they would bring to the celebration, they invited two guests with whom they’ve celebrated anniversaries before. Barbara’s brother and his wife, Edward and Paula Malone, married six months before the Rislers. Since then, they have celebrated together with a cruise in Europe and a renewal of wedding vows in Superior. The couples have been married for 50 years.
Gene and Barbara, parishioners at St. Pius X, Solon Springs, met while working at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire. Though they have traveled often throughout their marriage, the Rislers have been sidelined the past six years as Barbara fought ovarian cancer.
“I’m on my sixth year of treatment, and I’m still here,” Barbara said. “I think it’s made us much closer. I don’t regret a minute of it.”
The Malones do a lot of traveling, spending winters in Mesa, Ariz., and summers visiting family in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. They say communication is important not only in their marriage, but in keeping in touch with family across the country.
The Malones keep up with their children and grandchildren through phone and e-mail. They suspect their children set up a Facebook account for them, but they don’t know how to access it.
“I still think hearing their voices is the best way to communicate,” Edward said.
Each night the Malones bless each other with the sign of the cross. Edward advised other couples to do the same.
“Say, ‘I love you and I bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’” Edward said.
The diocesan wedding jubilee celebration takes place annually in July. Information about couples with significant anniversaries is collected in the spring at parishes. For more information, contact Lieberg at 715-394-0240. |