In the absence of the parish priest, Fr. John from the neighbouring parish was called to offer mass for a family of three – parents and their daughter – in the parish church. There might have been about 150 people for the liturgy that was well planned with proper readings, melodious hymns and good singing. Fr. John had no information about the jubilarians. He knew that it was a family of three people.

Before the liturgy began Fr. John arranged the altar book, the articles for the Mass, and 2 chairs reserved for the couple in front of the altar. The liturgy began on time.

Right from the beginning of the liturgy Fr. John was distracted seeing the two reserved chairs occupied by a man in his fifties and a young lady in her early twenties. He said to himself that the young lady couldn’t be his wife. He was very much distracted during the homily. Special prayers were offered during the liturgy for the jubilarians, meaningful gifts were brought to the altar during the offertory time. There was no renewal of marriage vows, no exchange of rings after blessing them. Fr. John felt that there was something amiss in the whole ceremony.

Fr. John was about to leave the Church after the liturgy when the jubilarian (man) urged him to come home just for a while, if not for the whole party. The man looked earnest and a bit troubled too. Fr. John accepted the invitation while the young lady was busy accepting the felicitations and greetings from the guests. The jubilarians’ house was a kilometer from the parish.

The jubilee celebration was arranged in the courtyard of the house under a shamiana, well decorated. Fr. John was led to a room by the jubilarian and the young lady. In the room, he saw a lady in bed shriveled body. The room was well decorated with ribbons, real flowers, whose fragrance filled the room. The woman in bed was the jubilarian’s life partner, his wife. The young lady that accompanied them was their only daughter, named Caroline.

The jubilarian husband, Valerian, was an area officer of the railways. Cynthia, his wife, was an electronic engineer before marriage. Valerian’s friend introduced Cynthia to him and they fell in love and got married after three years of courtship. Both had good jobs and their future looked promising. As desired Caroline was born two years after their marriage. It was a normal delivery. They were happy to have a baby in the house, fruit of their love.

Soon after the birth of Caroline, Cynthia developed some neurophysical complications. She had to be hospitalized for a long time. They consulted many expert doctors without any success of cure. She was in the hospital for a long time.

When Cynthia was in the hospital, Caroline was nursed and looked after by Valerian’s mother who was a widow. Cynthia could not breastfeed her. Caroline was a lovely child, affectionate and was very fond of her father. Cynthia was treated with Allopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, naturopathy, Unani, Homeopathy, combined therapy without any success. She was brought home and confined to bed. When Valerian’s mother died, he kept a nurse at home during day time to look after Cynthia and Caroline. At night he looked after them because he loved them, keeping in mind the marriage vows he pronounced on the wedding day, “… I promise to be true to you in good times and bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life. And accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his church.” At times, it was very hard to observe these promises, but he humbly and earnestly asked God to help him.

Cynthia from her part cooperated well with the doctors and the therapists. She never complained about her sickness to anybody. She fought her sickness well to her capacity. She offered her disability, discomforts and sicknesses to the Lord for “the good of the Church, for the reparation of her sins and the salvation of all people.” She was a cheerful sufferer. She did not allow depression to have hold over her. She kept smiling at her visitors, though at times it was pretty hard to do so. Valerian used to read for her from the Bible, read from newspapers and pray together with her. Caroline too joined them in these activities as she grew up. Theirs was a family united in love and faith.

Now Fr. John understood why Cynthia was not present in the church for jubilee mass. He blessed with holy water Cynthia and her room. He, at the request of Valerian, had their marriage vows renewed and rings exchanged.  Those who witnessed this home-ceremony rejoiced with the jubilarians and some could not suppress tears of joy. Having finished this home-ceremony Fr. John left the place since he had an appointment at his presbytery. Caroline was quite active and she entertained the guests and looked after their needs led by her loving father, Valerian. It was a day of celebration, jubilation and recommitment as a loving family with deep faith in God and each other. Valerian clearly kept in mind the reading he had on his wedding day, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-27).