A happy couple of the Beatitudes

By Archbishop Emeritus Robert Rivas OP

A Diamond Jubilee doesn’t come around frequently. On the Sunday of the Beatitudes, February 1, I had the privilege of celebrating Mass for the 60th Wedding Anniversary of Norbert and Valerie Ferreira at St Finbar’s Dominican Community.

When I was a young priest, I was also privileged to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee Mass for Stephen and Vio Ferreira, parents of Norbert Ferreira. These occasions are rare and are great milestones in the lives of couples, families, as well as in the life of a priest.

Sunday, February 1, was a day of nostalgia and a graced moment when, with Norbert and Val, we remembered, we celebrated and gave thanks to God for the example and witness of married love in action.

Sixty years of living the covenant of life and love together in the Sacrament and vocation of Marriage is a great grace and blessing for a couple, their family and the Church.

It was a day when the domestic Church, the Church of the home, shone brightly.  To mark the occasion the couple received a Papal Blessing from Pope Leo XIV.

Norbert and Val were married at the Church of the Assumption, Maraval on January 30, 1966. Norbert described events leading up to the wedding in simple words: “I fell in love with Val and we had been seeing each other for some time. One day, I took her out to dinner and, during dinner, I said to her, ‘We have been seeing each other for some time now. I would like us to get married, will you marry me?’ She looked at me with a radiant smile and with one word: ‘Sure!’ We started planning for our wedding day and our life together in marriage.”

His voice was excited when he spoke about their dreams and how they both agreed from the beginning to practise their faith and to pray together; they agreed to bring up their children in the faith and to strive to live virtuous lives.

“We knew we were stepping out in faith and would need the presence of God in our marriage and divine guidance along the way. We consecrated our marriage to God’s care and providence.”

Sunday’s Jubilee celebration was a witness to a life of commitment, perseverance, fidelity and love in marriage.

The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Year A was from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount according to St Matthew. Jesus began His preaching on the Mount with the Beatitudes, often referred to as the badge of the Christian disciple.

It is clear that our Jubilarians have worn their badge well and have found in the Beatitudes a framework for living a virtuous life in marriage, for bringing up their family with Gospel values and with great trust and reliance on God.

Norbert is the ninth of 14 children and grew up in a very Catholic family on Picton Street where, from an early age, he served as an altar server at St Patrick’s Church.

Throughout their married life, the Church was never distant from them, and they both gave quality time in bringing up their three children: Giselle, Lara and Ross, and are now the proud grandparents of Joshua, Gianna and Hunter.

They gave their time generously in serving in their parish wherever they were posted during Norbert’s banking career. After his retirement, Norbert worked with Servol for 16 years, while Val was actively involved in leading the Altar Ministry at the Church of the Nativity for the last 33 years.

What a joy it was to be the chief celebrant at the Jubilee Mass and to have Fr Thomas Lawson OP, a friend of the family, concelebrate with me. Debbie Nahous, Lorraine Neves and Sr Mary Anthony, a Holy Faith Sister, provided beautiful music and singing at the Mass, which was very family focused and filled with gratitude, beauty and thanksgiving.

Because of Val’s health, the celebration, originally planned for the Church of the Nativity in Crystal Stream, had to be cancelled, but the small family celebration at our Dominican Community was anointed and blessed in many little surprising ways which will remain forever memorable for the family.

Norbert and Val’s love for each other was visible, heart-warming and could not be hidden. They relate to each other in a very joyful, open and unpretentious way after all their years together. Their love for each other is transparent.

The couple chose their hymns and, before the Eucharistic celebration began, Fr Tom shared with all present what he called ‘a love letter’ to Norbert and Val. This set the tone for a joyful, grace-filled and love-infused celebration.

In his love letter to Norbert and Val, Fr Tom mentioned some significant moments he shared with the Ferreira family over the years of his priestly life in Trinidad. He described them as “moments of faith, family and gratitude; quiet, simple, beautiful!” The Jubilee Mass and reception afterwards was one of those moments, but this one was the cream on the pudding sparkling with diamonds.

He did the talking and she did the smiling, and it was clear that the two had become one in their mutual exchange of their gift of self to each other and a deep bond of unbroken love.

I can still hear Norbert serenading Val with the song ‘Oh Promise Me’ as the love story continued to unfold. After renewing their marriage vows, they embraced each other like newlyweds!

At the sticking of the lovely cake made for the occasion by Liz Chang On of Church of the Nativity, their joy was exuberant and we all toasted to a love that has weathered all storms, has been purified and is ready to endure to the end; in sickness and in health, all the days of their lives! Congratulations Norbs and Val!