Brittany Spears is getting a Catholic wedding

[renee1258]

Priests have on occasion sent a non-married couple living together with children to marriage encounter. As a matter of practicality they can benefit more from the subject material and still fulfill the requirements of pre-cana. .

 

[tom.wineman]

Considering she doesn’t have a brain in her head and has proven it many times I can’t take this story seriously.

 

[Brendan]

renee1258:

Priests have on occasion sent a non-married couple living together with children to marriage encounter. As a matter of practicality they can benefit more from the subject material and still fulfill the requirements of pre-cana. .

Then the couple lied on the Registration form.

My wife and I present at Marriage Encounter weekends; the registration form has the couple certify that they are in a valid marriage recognized by the Catholic Church.

 

[renee1258]

I don’t think they lied, if the priest gives the ok. I’m sure the priest talks to the marriage encounter leaders first, and gives them heads up on it.

 

[ridesawhitehors]

Call me crazy, but I’ve always felt sorry for her.
There is no way she can truly be happy - and I wouldn’t trade places with her for a second.She is bought and sold like a slave, (sorry for the double en’tandre) is public property, and may never escape.

 

[Steph700]

ridesawhitehors:

Call me crazy, but I’ve always felt sorry for her.
There is no way she can truly be happy - and I wouldn’t trade places with her for a second.She is bought and sold like a slave, (sorry for the double en’tandre) is public property, and may never escape.

I feel sorry for her too.

You know, she’s somebody’s little girl, somebody’s big sister, somebody’s first love, probably somebody’s future mom and DEFINITELY a unique and precious creation of God.

Can we show a little charity here? My gosh, I hope she doesn’t come on this board and realize how disgusting and judgemental so many people are. She probably already knows it, living the public life that she does. But shouldn’t we all be hoping that she does encounter God through this process? Only He knows our souls.

I am the first to admit that I do not have a perfect, stellar life history. Does that mean I should not be able to marry in the church? Or maybe I have to pass the impossible morality test assumed by others on these boards.

Good grief, people!

 

[redkim]

loyola rambler:

What’s so scandalous? Maybe it will bring her to a new found understanding of God and a better understanding of faith.

I agree. I can’t quite figure out why this is so scandalous. Perhaps these monks will have a great role in her conversion.

 

[AmandaPS]

It was the last line of the story that her friend said that troubled me.

And they can easily arrange a Kabbalah blessing later.

 

[bluerose]

I think right now that only celebrity that would bother me attempting to marry in the Church would be J Lo.

Then I guess you missed the headlines where she was going to go to Rome to personally ask the Holy Father for an annulment from her first marriage so she could have a Catholic wedding.

This was back in the old days when she was going to marry Ben Affleck.

Apparently she decided she didn’t need a Catholic wedding to get pregnant and marry Marc Anthony (in that order).

Not that I read the tabloids, but the headlines are hard to miss when you’re standing in the checkout line at Wal*Mart!

Blue"who could make this stuff up, anyway?"Rose

 

[Jennifer123]

Steph700:

I feel sorry for her too.

Can we show a little charity here? My gosh, I hope she doesn’t come on this board and realize how disgusting and judgemental so many people are. She probably already knows it, living the public life that she does. But shouldn’t we all be hoping that she does encounter God through this process? Only He knows our souls.

I am the first to admit that I do not have a perfect, stellar life history. Does that mean I should not be able to marry in the church? Or maybe I have to pass the impossible morality test assumed by others on these boards.

Good grief, people!

Gosh - talk about the pot calling the kettle black. We’re all disgusting? I can only maybe find 2 comments at the most that are probably over the top but to label us all as disgusting and judgemental is a bit much.
As for passing our “impossible morality test”, it is not ours, it’s the Church’s and this thread has mainly been a discussion on whether those standards are eroding, not whether Britany Spears is worthy of a Church wedding.
You are right though in that we all should be hoping she’ll encounter God through His Church. In charity, you should assume that’s what we all would want for her, and my belief is that we all do hope this for her.
God Bless.

 

[jw999]

People on this topic are coming off as very judgmental. Why do so many people care that these people getting married are living together(not necessarily Brittney Spears)? It’s far from the end of the world and definitely doesn’t make them terrible people. At least they’ve decided to get married after all. I thought what seperated Catholicism from other Christian denominations was it’s acceptance of everyone and it’s ideas that people can be forgiven for what they have done wrong and not have it held against them forever.

 

[renee1258]

A few years ago, I was really active on a large wedding planning board. About once a month, a bride would start venting about pre-cana and about how the Church was telling her how to live her marriage and that she didn’t need any counseling because she already lived with her fiance for X amount of years; that they 100 dollar fee was too much because they were saving up for the honeymoon. And of course how could the Church take up her whole weekend!

I’ve just accepted these women as bad cases of Bridezilla.

You don’t learn anything new in pre-cana but it definitly re-affirms why you want to get married in the first place, or makes a person re-consider marriage by sitting down for a weekend and facing the issue. Sometimes it is pre-cana, that has a couple decides that marriage isn’t right and they break up.Which is a good thing I tell my friends, that they saved themselves from a divorce.

 

[renee1258]

jw999:

Why do so many people care that these people getting married are living together(not necessarily Brittney Spears)? .

It is really hard to enter into marriage with a clear mind, when you have signed a joint lease or made a heavy deposit on a down payment. If you aren’t lviing together, you make a decision with no doubt in your head wondering about all the money you would lose or where you going to live if you did back out.

I also care because people who live together way too many times, have expected me to treat them as if they were already married.

They claim that they love each other just as much, or claim that they don’t need the “piece of paper” to show how much they love each other.

Anybody can just crash into another’s apartment and never leave and consider themselves living together. Secular society thinks so much of people who “live together” to the extent to extend domestic partner benefits.

I know of a situation, where a man had a one night stand, and the woman never left. Then a day or two later the woman accused him of violence and had a restaining order taking out on him, he was kicked out of his apartment while a woman he barely knew was living there. They were a domestic couple according to court, because she claimed to of lived with him and they had a sexual relationship.

 

[1ke]

jw999:

I thought what seperated Catholicism from other Christian denominations was it’s acceptance of everyone.

I believe you are thinking of Unitarians… they are the “whatever floats your boat” church accepting everyone and what they believe as equal and valid… and espousing “whatever makes you feel good” moral relativism.

The Catholic Church on the other hand accepts all that all people are sinners and that all people need Christ-- and that following Christ means dieing to self and rising to new life and following the New Covenant. The Catholic Church does not accept “I’m OK, your OK” and “do what makes you feel good”. Getting on the Cross didn’t feel good, Christ died for our sins and we are called to repentance.

Living together, sex outside of marriage, and the immoral and immodest behavior flaunted by this couple demonstrate that they are NOT interested in following Christ, conforming to his Will, and following Church teaching. They seem to be interested in pacifying their parents, who want them to be married in a Christian ceremony.

 

[Steph700]

Jennifer123:

Gosh - talk about the pot calling the kettle black. We’re all disgusting? I can only maybe find 2 comments at the most that are probably over the top but to label us all as disgusting and judgemental is a bit much.
As for passing our “impossible morality test”, it is not ours, it’s the Church’s and this thread has mainly been a discussion on whether those standards are eroding, not whether Britany Spears is worthy of a Church wedding.
You are right though in that we all should be hoping she’ll encounter God through His Church. In charity, you should assume that’s what we all would want for her, and my belief is that we all do hope this for her.
God Bless.

I never said everyone on this board was disgusting, but I have read an incredible amount of judgemental comments- far too many. This discussion has not been primarily about the logistics of why/why not Brit should marry in or out of the Church, it has been about why she is too “bad” or why J-Lo is too bad.
Out of charity, I do hope she encounters God and I am sure there are others reading this post right now who also wish her the best, but out of experience on this board over the last few months I have found too many people here who love to cast stones and and condemn others while they think they themselves live “holy” lives. She’s human, just like anyone of us and I think we as Christians need to show her grace and love.
Brit’s about my age and I have always had a soft spot in my heart for her. Maybe because I feel like I’ve gone through a lot of the stuff she has at about the same time she did. She’s not perfect, but she is trying hard to find happiness and contentment. I do not envy the pressure she has from the public to be beautiful, in a steady relationship, tip top shape for performing. The fact that she is seeking out marriage, first of all, and in the Church secondly is significant in my opinion.

 

[KatieRD]

All I am going to say with regard to this topic is that Jesus said, “Judge not and you will not be judged”.

 

[renee1258]

Discussing with women my age, we have reflected. I think people do want to wait until marriage, but there is a big judgmental push by secular society that it is foolisf. Couples are stressed, their intention is for marriage focused on Christ, but secular society says its “old fashion”. If discussed, many women will judge them for not “testing” their fiance out first.

For many women now married, say they don’t regret living together. What they do regret is not getting married sooner when they first moved in. They love their spouses just as much, they were denying themselves the complete unity of marriage in the Church.

You can say we shouldn’t judge those who live together, but I was very much judged by secular society for making a bad decision when I decided to wait.

Modern day thinking believe as long as you are not married you are free, even if you live with a domestic partner and share property, bills, and credit jointly. And there is no divorce court, when the relationship goes bad and the boyfriend ruins your credit.

I wanted to get married, once it was realized that I should be together with my husband. All I got was why such a short engagement? I told people, that society had no problem if we just moved in so I don’t think there is an issue why I want to be married by summer’s end.

The idea of Marriage is prolong in secular society, it is unreasonable to wait to start looking for a spouse until you are 25 and out of graduate school. Unfortunatly this creates serial monogamy, with confused 20 something desiring marriage but trying to talk themselves out of it by living with who ever they are dating.

 

[malta]

MariaG:

Although it is sad that my husband and I were the norm, it is sadder still that bigoted and self-righteous people who had sin on their souls cast the stones at us. That was 16 years ago. Maybe in 16 more, my husband will finally be able to joyfully go to the Catholic Church with me.

People threw stones at you? Why didn’t you call the police?!
PLEASE! I am so tired of people who label every criticism of them as “judgementalism” and then go on to criticize the behavior of others. Facts are facts, if you and your husband lived together before marriage what you did was wrong. If someone else told you so they were only telling the truth. If that truth hurt the fault lies with you not them.

 

[seeker63]

I’m not gonna pass judgement on Britney Spears’s public or private life, but I will say I think that in spite of her success and pop cultural influence, she still seems a scared little girl engaged in a frantic search for happiness, and I fear she may wind up a show business tragedy like Elvis Presley and Judy Garland.

What I want to opine on is the notion of a wedding as a theatrical production. I think this describes more weddings than it doesn’t. It annoys me, for instance, when there’s a lavish, expensive, formal wedding, yet 30 minutes into the reception, everybody sheds their shoes and ties and jackets and whatever else they can decently strip off, and just turn into slobs.

So who was the big production for? Who are you trying to impress? The guests? If so, why put up a fancy facade for them only to drop it 90 minutes later? Or is the big production just for the wedding photographs or video? There’s just something false and hypocritical about this to me.

In my opinion, a formal occasion stays a formal occasion until it ends. Likewise for an informal occasion. But if slobbing out is more “you,” more comfortable, more representative of what you are, then I think shelling out thousands of dollars on formal display is obscene. Why don’t you give the money you’re throwing away on 90 minutes of vulgar lavishness to charity? I’m not down on formal weddings at all—just shallow motives.

 

[renee1258]

seeker63:

So who was the big production for? Who are you trying to impress? The guests? If so, why put up a fancy facade for them only to drop it 90 minutes later? Or is the big production just for the wedding photographs or video? There’s just something false and hypocritical about this to me.

In my opinion, a formal occasion stays a formal occasion until it ends. Likewise for an informal occasion. But if slobbing out is more “you,” more comfortable, more representative of what you are, then I think shelling out thousands of dollars on formal display is obscene. Why don’t you give the money you’re throwing away on 90 minutes of vulgar lavishness to charity? I’m not down on formal weddings at all—just shallow motives.

I know is it so much to ask a guess to wear a tie.