As my wife and I marked 20 years of marriage this past year, she pulled out the wedding cards we had received on that beautiful day. Over the course of this last year, we’ve re-read them all. It was a powerful, and joyful, reminder of the many people who had touched our lives leading up to that day when we entered into our vocation. There were, of course, the many expressions of joy and good wishes, but there was also a recurring counsel, especially when the inevitable struggles come, to always return back to the source of this new love, this vocation, now entered into. In many ways, we are where we are today because of the examples, counsel, and prayers of those who have gone ahead of us and walked with us.

I fondly recall one couple who welcomed me into their life when I was a college student. Their example of faithful and sacrificial love for each other offered a concrete model of what marriage could be. I lovingly remember the families at my parish when I was a young adult who welcomed me into their lives. Seeing their marriages being lived out amidst the joys and challenges of raising children provided a concrete model of what family life could be. These couples and families were invaluable as I prayerfully sought to discern the vocation God was calling me to. They would also give me the tools to live that vocation well.

The need for ongoing formation and examples didn’t stop the day we got married. I recall well at various points reaching out to my best man, who was a few years ahead of me in terms of marriage and the raising of a family, to seek his counsel. And quite frankly, some of the most helpful examples have come from those who have shared bits of their struggles in marriage.

Years ago, I served at a larger parish and I would bring all the couples preparing for marriage that year together, along with a group of married couples from the parish for a dinner. As part of that evening, I would invite the married couples to answer questions from the engaged couples and share their stories, both the joys and challenges. I think it was the favorite part of the marriage preparation process for the engaged couples. And, in a surprise to me, the married couples got as much out of it as the engaged couples did. For all of them it was an experience of learning and growing together in their marriages through the gift of others.

Every vocation is rooted in relationships, most clearly in marriage, where the bond between spouses comes first. Yet no vocation exists in isolation. It is discovered, embraced, and strengthened within a wider community of relationships. I am deeply grateful for those who faithfully live their God-given callings and generously share that witness with others.

This Year of Vocations invites us not only to encourage young people to prayerfully discern where God is calling them, but also to renew our own commitment to the vocation we have received. It is an opportunity to support one another, grow in fidelity, and become living examples of what a life given to God can look like.