The sacrament of Holy Matrimony is “living with a vision from God, a vision of a reality and dignity that is marriage; this is the sacramental reality of matrimony,” Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, Vicar for Clergy, told the faithful as he celebrated Mass during the ninth annual “Congreso de Parejas: Unidos en el Amor” (Couples’ Congress: United in Love).

The Saturday, May 4 gathering for Spanish speakers was held at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. Sponsored by the New York archdiocesan Movimiento Matrimonial Catolico, MMC (Catholic Marriage Movement), the event featured faith-based speakers and the rhythmic, Latin-faith music of singer Ysaac Rodriguez and an event band. An estimated 550 couples packed the Hayes auditorium for the event.

“We believe in matrimony; and when we say this, we are saying we believe in the Lord,” Bishop Whalen said during welcoming remarks at the Mass. “Your presence and your participation here today, and in your parishes, is for us a great gift from God. And for me, it is a blessing from God to participate and celebrate with the (marriage movement) community today.”

The bishop, in the homily, spoke of the mission of the Catholic Marriage Movement – honoring, celebrating, and advocating Holy Matrimony as the foundation of the family and society at large. He talked about the importance of facing life’s difficulties with guidance from the faith and maintaining a Christ-centered marriage and family life. 

“We have a God of love, a God who calls us to live in His love,” Bishop Whalen said, adding that it is clear that the MMC community of couples has long decided to live in a way that the world can see the love of God in them. “You are all leaders in your parishes with this marriage movement; thank you for this; we need this.”

Speaking of the reality of the love of God, he cited “the power of the Resurrection that we are celebrating during these days,” as well as the sacred examples of the Holy Family and the Holy Trinity.

The event themes included the importance of transmitting the faith to sons and daughters when they are children, teens and young adults. The focus was also on: the graces of the sacrament of matrimony, and on rebuilding marriage relationships through the faith. 

The MMC facilitates Church-marriage preparation for civil marriage, unmarried, and engaged couples; the group, led by Maximo and Marcia Correa, seeks “to take couples to the sacrament.”

Sinencio and Natividad Hernandez were among the couples that attended this year’s Couples’ Congress. Their home parish is St. Raymond in the Bronx; they have four grown children and seven grandchildren. They were married 37 years ago at Christ the King Church in the Bronx. Both were born in the Dominican Republic. 

“This annual Congress gathering is very important for us couples who are married, and to continue opening paths for those not married through the Church; we joined the movement seven or eight years ago. We are very delighted; we feel very good with the Catholic Marriage Movement,” Sinencio Hernandez, 62, told The Good Newsroom before the Mass.

Natividad Hernandez said the MMC and its annual Congress have helped them “a great deal as a couple,” and that they are dedicated to helping the movement “save lives, save marriages…And we are blessed to have the bishop here to celebrate the Mass today.”

The event speakers were Wilson Tamayo, missioner of Lazos De Amor Mariano, based in Colombia; and Ylma Acevedo, a Catholic speaker based in Garfield, New Jersey. They spoke in affirmation of the event themes, as did the Correa couple.

“This is a very important day for these couples; that’s why they’re here, and that’s why we’re (Mass celebrants) here – important for the family and all of society,” Father Peter Mushi, A.J., who served as a concelebrant and is pastor of St. Cecilia/Holy Agony Church in Manhattan, told The Good Newsroom after Mass. 

For more information about the Catholic Marriage Movement, click here.