Thirty four years ago we had the blessing and privilege to hear these words in Madison Square Garden:
Until today, the eyes of the world have been upon our Church; after today the eyes of the world will be upon you and your families. Remember three things above all in your life together:
1. The eternal union of husband and wife.
Your marriage is not merely “until death do us part,”
but for all time eternal. Each spouse is a great key to ever expanding and deepening our understanding of the infinite God. In your marriage, God’s love is consummated and together you are able to receive His total love.
2. The tradition of family love.
After seeking ideal marriages it is your responsibility to educate your children with a commitment to moral excellence. Before you can freely invest your love and energy in other dimensions, you must by all means fulfil your responsibilities as a loving parent.
3. The Ideal World.
Heaven is a world of heart, where all may trust and unite with one another in love. But there will be no true heaven for anyone while people are still in want, in need or in pain – physically or spiritually. You must all accept your responsibility to work as world citizens so that the legacy you leave to your children and grandchildren will be the harmonized world of God’s love.
Today, we went on a motor cycle ride through the wine district of Lower Austria.
It was an interesting experience for me who left home at 17 years and bought myself a motor cycle at seventeen and three-quarters. For the first time in over forty years, I was sitting on a motor cycle again, behind my husband of 34 years and was again challenged to trust, to unite, to obey. The last time I was on a motor bike, I was the rider, the owner, the one in control. Two weeks ago, we were in Australia and I was the one behind the wheel, driving on the left side of the road, after living in Austria for twenty-eight years. My husband trusted me and I drove the possibly thousand kilometres we covered in the three weeks Down Under in Far North Queensland and in Victoria. Now I was intensely aware of how vulnerable I was, how we could both go tumbling to the ground, how even the leather jackets would not be a shield for our legs should we really go down. Was I afraid? No. I knew what it means to be on a bike. I had mine for about 18 months before selling it for my return trip from my first stint to Europe. I remembered what my colleague from the laboratory told me when she first took me on a ride on her bike. Hold on, keep your feet up and lean with me. How much easier it was to do that with the only man I have shared a bed with the last 34 years. As I put my arms around his bulky jacket and leaned on his back, my thighs hugging his hips, my head against his back, l looked over his shoulders to see the speedometer reach 100kmh. He very conscientiously slowed to 40kmh in each of the villages and stopped at the intersections as necessary. I kept my feet up and continued to hold on, now not so tightly anymore and really began to enjoy the rushing wind blowing over our united body.