Rachel and Art Serianz renew their commitment to their sacramental marriage during the 50+ anniversary Mass at St. Patrick Church in Iowa City Oct. 20.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
IOWA CITY — Husbands and wives held hands and gazed at each other tenderly as they renewed their commitment to their sacramental marriage, a commitment first made 50 years ago or longer.
“Blessed are you, Lord, for in the good times and the bad times of our life you have stood lovingly by our side,” some 40 couples prayed during the 50+ Wedding Anniversary Mass Oct. 20 in St. Patrick Catholic Church. “Help us, we pray, to remain faithful to our love for one another, so that we may be true witnesses to the covenant you have made with humankind.”
Bishop Dennis Walsh presided at the diocesan-wide Mass honoring the couples. Fathers Ken Kuntz and Troy Richmond (pastor of St. Patrick Parish) concelebrated. Deacons Angel Hernandez and Frank Agnoli (Master of Ceremonies), served.
“You are a sign to all of us of faithful, life-giving permanent love. We thank you for this,” Bishop Walsh said as he began his homily, which wove stories and a movie into a tapestry about the lived experience of sacramental marriage. In the first story, a beautiful woman in a small village marries a plain, unattractive man and the other villagers wonder why. “It is because he knows me. And I know him,” she responds. “He knows that I am broken and he loves me anyway. I know his heart and it is beautiful.”
In the second story, the protagonist in the movie “Meet Joe Black” wants to discover what is so wonderful and beautiful about life. The answer, he learns, is love. The brother-in-law of the woman Joe has fallen in love with shares that he knows his wife loves him because they know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets and that makes them free. “You are free to love each other completely totally, just no fear. So there’s nothing you don’t know about each other, and it’s OK.”
“Love is about vulnerability,” Bishop Walsh said, “and that scares us to death.” One of his favorite stories at Christmas time is the “Christmas Carol,” particularly the backstory of Ebenezer Scrooge, who once was young and playful and in love but becomes an old, bitter, miserly man. “How could a good and loving God ever love someone like Ebenezer Scrooge? God says if you knew Ebenezer like I knew Ebenezer, without the mask, then you would love Ebenezer as I love him.”
Witness of a faithful love
“There is nothing you don’t know about each other,” the bishop told the couples, surrounded by family and friends. “You are able to love each other in complete freedom, knowing each other’s faults and failings. It is a beautiful witness in a world where we are surrounded by pretense and artificiality. Your lives become a sacrament, a sign that is a light for the world to see … It is love that is light for the world and the salt that gives flavor and life.”
“God has called you to a vocation and it is a sacrament not only for yourselves but for the whole world. It not only points to the eternal love of God, which is permanent and faithful and life-giving. But it is also a grace-filled sacrament that gives grace and life to the couple.” He concluded, “Thank you for your beautiful witness of a faithful love — a sacrament that gives life to the whole world.”
Just six days later, couples preparing for marriage would be gathering in Pella for a diocesan Marriage Prep Workshop, Marianne Agnoli, diocesan Marriage and Family Life coordinator, told the gathering at the end of Mass. “Do any of you remember your marriage prep — Pre-Cana is what it was often called back then?” she asked. “I will challenge them to follow your example: to persevere in prayer, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and faithfulness so that 50 years from now, they too will be participating in their own celebration liturgy.”
“All of you celebrating today really do serve as beacons of hope to these young couples just embarking on their marriage journey and to so many others in our church community and beyond.”
These beacons of hope enjoyed posing for photos with Bishop Walsh after Mass, who greeted each couple and asked a question or two. “What is your actual anniversary date?” he asked some couples. “How did you meet?” he asked others.
A couple kisses during the 50+ Wedding Anniversary Mass Oct. 20 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Iowa City.
Marriage essentials
Art and Rachel Serianz met in Rachel’s freshman chemistry class at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Art, a senior, was the TA (teaching assistant). They married Aug. 10, 1974 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Veseli, Minnesota. Both were educators, he taught chemistry for 43 years at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. They are members of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and parents of three children and seven grandchildren.
“We both have a very good and strange sense of humor,” Rachel said, explaining how they have managed the inevitable challenges in marriage. “Things that other couples might get angry about, we laughed about.” “We tend to agree on a lot of issues,” Art said. He believes couples with common interests and values are more likely to be successful in marriage.
“A lot of prayer,” has guided Nancy and Bill Peart through their 50-year marriage, Nancy said. “You know you’re in it together. You just decide that’s how you’re going to live. It never crossed our minds that it wouldn’t last,” she said. They met while attending St. Mary High School in Clinton and married July 6, 1974 at St. Irenaeus Catholic Church in Clinton. Bill, a retired locomotive engineer, agrees that faith is an important part of their marriage, “especially in the last few decades.”
Nancy, a retired Catholic school principal, “has been my guiding force,” said Bill. They are members of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace Parish in Clinton. Gatherings with their 3 children, 12 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren are among their greatest joys. “Some of my joy would be her (Nancy’s) gourmet cooking,” Bill said. “It’s not gourmet,” Nancy protested. “It’s pretty darn good,” Bill responded.
“You have to work together,” says Char McGovern, who married husband Steve on Sept. 14, 1974 at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Dubuque, Iowa the church of Steve’s parents. They are parents of 2 grown children. “Respect is the most important part of a marriage. You can’t have love without respect,” says Steve, who is retired. Char, who serves as a health advocate at their parish, Our Lady of Victory Parish in Davenport, said they met on a blind date.
Steve’s best friend still teases Char, “I see you’re still blind!” When Char and Steve met, “I didn’t have much of a relationship with God. Steve and his parents showed me who God was.” Faith is essential in their marriage, Char says. “I’m thankful I have my faith to lean into.”
Bishop Dennis Walsh sprinkles holy water on couples and families during the 50+ Wedding Anniversary Mass Oct. 20 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Iowa City.
The joys
For Loreen and Ted Pestka, “reliving your wedding vows,” is an important part of marriage. “If we didn’t have the Lord, I don’t know what we would do,” Loreen said. Ted was a widower and the father of a young son when he met Loreen. “She expanded our marriage,” Ted said. “She’s fun to be with and she had the same values as I had. You couldn’t find another one like her in a million years.” They married Nov. 16, 1974 at Ss. Philip & James Parish in Grand Mound and today are members of St. Joseph Parish in DeWitt.
Joe and Sue Kleiss of Our Lady of the River Parish in LeClaire met at a ballgame in Michigan. They married on Nov. 15, 1974 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Roseville, Michigan. “I just say, ‘Yes, ma’am,’” Joe kidded, of how they have made it through challenges in marriage. Sue said that when she got upset, “I would clean out cupboards and closets. He’d know something was up and he’d go away so I could work things out in my mind.” The greatest joy of their marriage is “the boys,” Joe and Sue said, referring to their four young grandsons, whom they are helping their daughter to raise. “Faith,” Joe added, “is a part of our life.”
Tama and Wayne Hemann of St. Mary Parish in Solon met while Tama was teaching in a Catholic school in Minneapolis. She had accepted a free ticket to a Moody Blues concert that she attended with Wayne, her friend’s brother. They married Oct. 20, 1973 at St. Barnabas Catholic Church in Chicago. “Having your own space” is important in their marriage, in addition to faith, Tama said. “My daughter said she thinks faith had held us together,” Tama added. “We say grace before meals,” Wayne said. They are parents of three children and grandparents to five grandchildren. Asked what gives them the greatest joy, they agreed: their kids and grandkids, “and Tama,” Wayne added.
Photo link
Diocesan Social Media Coordinator Sarah Callahan has created a Google Drive link to the photographs she took of couples celebrating wedding anniversaries of 50 years or more at St. Patrick Parish in Iowa City on Oct. 20. The photos are downloadable at
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Lit5dmutYr92lfkVN5LQjbxDfsdMTmyK?usp=sharing
I cannot get it to download to look at the pictures of last Sunday
Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Lit5dmutYr92lfkVN5LQjbxDfsdMTmyK?usp=sharing