“You know what the problem is Father? From the time a little girl has any concept of what a wedding is, she has been daydreaming about it. She imagines it and catalogues everything that she likes from movies and such. And then you come along and say, ‘Sorry, I can’t do that.’ But they do it on T.V. and at the Brand New Jesus Church so you look like a jerk.”
That may be true. It may also be true that we do not preach and teach enough about marriage and weddings to firmly ground people in what they are and what they do. So two different philosophical boats collide on Lake Erie and it is rare in these situations that both sides go, “Oooops, my bad,” and then motor along. Dreams and law collide and someone is invariably upset that there is a scratch on their boat.

That sounds reasonable. Aunt Judy and Ranger Rick who will be in attendance are not exchanging vows, are not going on the honeymoon, will not be living with the new couple and didn’t pay for a lick of anything. The Church (typically) receives some fees for services rendered. So if someone wants to get married on the beach at noon on Sunday at a destination wedding in bathing suits with “Pretty Woman” playing as the bride walks down the sandy aisle, why should we not cater to the consumer? It is just good business practice.

Like the Mass does not belong to the priest meaning he can’t play around with it because it belongs to the whole Church and they have a right to the Church’s Mass, so too does a wedding ceremony belong to the whole Church, the Church in Akron, the United States, the Americas, the world, and therefore we do what belongs to our common union. Those in attendance, those expected to facilitate, and those marrying all have a right to that. It is not a purchasing of a service, it is a joining in the life of Jesus’ Church and the life of generations of Catholics who pray for marriage every day.
Ah, well.
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