“Marwiage that bwessed arwangement, that dweem beyond a dweem.” –The Princess Bride
But the actual wedding: It’s more like a nightmare for some priests. BustedHalo is stepping in the ring between princess brides and priests with a new series of online videos about weddings. Father Eric Andrews plays “the jerky priest” and answers questions from recently married Christine B. Whelan (see her article against soul mates) and other real brides.
In the episode on the jerky priest, Andrews explains the priest’s point of view: He gets a few phone calls a day about weddings, and too many of them come from people who are simply looking for a pretty location rather than a Catholic marriage. He makes a good suggestion for engaged couples: Start showing up at church and get to know the priest a bit before scheduling the wedding.
Still, I hope he and the other priests watching this series learn something from the princesses. It honestly doesn’t take that much effort to say “congratulations” before asking if somebody is Catholic. Also, if the bride and groom haven’t been attending Mass already, an invitation back to church from the priest (or church secretary, as it may be) would probably be very helpful.
At God blogging, Renee Schafer Horton has been counting down the top 10 reasons people leave the church and 1 and 2 are judgmental priests and unwelcoming congregations.
Here’s a compromise: A couple calls up, the priest says “Congratulations,” and if he doesn’t know them, he invites them to meet him after Mass on Sunday. This might not work for couples getting married out of town, but it’s at least an attempt to put faith first.
