Can we attend our son's wedding on the beach?

[Cristinamaria]

Our son is engaged and his fiancee wants to get married in Mexico on a beach… He is concerned about how I feel about it and I know he doesn’t want to disappoint me! I have explained to him why he should get married in the church, he says that they would have their marriage blessed in the church after… etc…I am troubled, because I want to be present on this important day of my son and his future wife’s lives, while at the same time I don’t want to not be true to my faith!! Can someone in CA help me please? Thank you and God bless!

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear friend,

If he attempts marriage on a beach without going through the Church, that will not be his special day because he will not be validly married. As a Catholic, for him to do so is also a serious sin.

He needs to give more attention to God than to the secular culture we live in. Having the marriage blessed later (after having gone to Confession for choosing a secular ceremony) is making more of the beach ceremony than of the REAL marriage that the blessing actually is!

You really do need to explain this to him! the Wedding for a Catholic is too sacred to water down for such a shallow reason.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.