Submitted by Grace Tom
August 10, 2016

August is my most favorable month of the year.  Why?  It is my birthday and wedding anniversary.

On the first Sunday of each month, at the end of our Cantonese mass in St. Leo, we ask those who have birthdays and anniversaries in that month to stand up, so that they can be blessed by our pastor Fr. Paul Chen.  I so happened to have my birthday and wedding anniversary fall on the same month - August, and I always looking forward to August so that I can have “double blessings”.  And of course with the singing of the birthday song by everyone in church, plus an anniversary blessing song (composed by our retired pastor Fr. Thomas Ng), I feel so happy and blessed.

This morning at breakfast, I was reading this week’s Catholic Voice and the heading on one page struck me.  “Why do we celebrate wedding anniversaries?”  I bet many people would say, “so that we can have candle light romantic dinner and gifts”.  The author of this article writes “Yes, we will receive many gifts, but the most valuable gift is the ‘Gift of Love’”.  I wholeheartedly agreed.  The gift of togetherness, the gift of renewing our marital vows - “in sickness and in health, let nothing do us apart” on every wedding anniversary.  It is truly a great blessing, that couples can stay together for that many years when divorce rate is so high in the many more developing countries.  Marriage helps two people to mature spiritually and emotionally together.  Besides being a gift of love, it is a gift of giving, empathy and forgiveness.

Every year on our wedding anniversary, instead of a candlelight dinner, I remind my husband, “we are blessed that we are still together with many God’s blessings - love, good health and togetherness!”

May all the couples having their anniversary this August fill with much God’s love and blessings.