Actually, I respectfully disagree. Action needs to be taken because what the OP described is a serious offense. If the wedding party broke the law, they can and should be prosecuted. Documenting what happened will prove beneficial.
A Christian in other thread told me :The Bible speaks of alcohol (more specifically wine) as a blessing, and wine was an integral part of the feasts under the Old Covenant.
Your dripping sarcasm notwithstanding (I can say this because of witnessing your posting on the alcohol topic, in other threads) PRAISING others for using grape juice
What kind of cultural precedent is there for this? Who’s culture?
If there is concern that this particular family or their immediate friends who were involved may do the same thing again, or if there is judged enough risk of others doing so that an example needs to be set, than I can see a letter or a prosecution. Unless one of those is the case, pestering a parish family about a matter that is over and done, or even involving the law, seems like a counterproductive use of the resources of parish staff.
Digitonomy, the fact of the matter remains that the couple in the OP violated church policy and possibly civil law with what they did. The only alchohol alluwed for consumption is sacramental wine. Beer doesn’t even fall into that category.
Hello M.W. and may the Peace of Christ be upon you as well.
No, it is not, You are a little misinformed. Holy Communion (also called Eucharist) is Jesus present body, blood, soul and divinity under the appearance of bread. Jesus present body, blood, soul and divinity under the appearance of wine is the Precious Blood.
Yes. So what does the OP hope to achieve now - it appears he just wants to know what he should have done, in case this should happen again. Good idea to seek counsel from others on such a matter. Except for a situation where a deterrent effect is thought to be needed, and seems possible to achieve, I don’t think it’s a good idea to pester the family with a stern letter or involve the law. One possible consequence is that other family members (not the bad apples causing the problem) may take offense and become opponents of the OP within the parish. Or they may come to the parish office and complain, or phone, or write letters, etc. When all is said and done, they may be mollified or better educated, or they may still be bitter, but regardless, the OP will have spent a lot of time dealing with them. So I think careful consideration should be given as to whether benefit is likely to come from chasing water that’s already well under the bridge - if so, fine, but my guess is that in most cases that won’t be the case.
Yes, let’s return to that question - you seem to be familiar with states or cities where it’s illegal to consume alcohol in a church building. I’m surprised and would like to learn more. Can you elaborate?
That would be a slightly more serious matter, since it would be a violation of the law and not just parish policy, but I think the same overall approach would be used. If there is likely to be benefit from addressing the matter - for instance, if it’s thought that those who brought the drugs are likely to return again and expose other parishioners, especially students or children, then it would probably be a good idea to report this matter to the police. If there were a couple of bad seeds that came from out of town and brought their drug habit with them, and there’s no reason to expect that they’ll ever return, it’s not likely the police will be interested after the fact. If there’s some doubt that others could be involved, it might be worthwhile to report it anyway, but if not it may not be worth the time involved.
Music man…It is likely a Law in Wisconsin mandating Beer should be consumed at the church…Ok bad swipe at my favorite state.
Like it or not, in several northern states, and Wisconsin is one, consumption of alcohol is a part of the culture, especially in association with weddings, although consumption prior to the ceremony is certainly discouraged.What kind of cultural precedent is there for this? Who’s culture?
I’d call it utterly devoid of culture.
I witnessed this one time at Camp Randal stadium in Madtown…
AND NE IOWA…!!! Ok Northern 1/3 of Iowa…but better towards the Volga river valley…
I got married in Wisconsin and I went to a few weddings. I noticed that the heavy consumption of alcohol is not a cultural norm, and when it happens in an excessive way it is because of the lack of culture. That was quite evident independently from the economical status of the people involved. Here I am referring to the farming communities around Madison. Yes, I have seen newlyweds going bar hopping with the bridal party just after the ceremony and before the reception. However, those were the same ones that would get drunk every weekend and get in family fist fights for the fun of it. Bozos like that are in Texas too!
are you sure they were not doing the Schoettisch?
I think that you are correct in trying to understand what the other person is thinking before reacting to the behaviors. Understanding does not mean justification. It did not look like, at least to me, that you were justifying them.
Just because we can understand their thinking, that does not mean that we should hold judgment on the behaviors. I rushed with my judgment of their behaviors as soon as I read that they were blatantly ignoring the lady. Wrong is wrong no matter how much you understand it.
And I certainly believe their behavior was out of line, and, well, down right rude. I believe I mentioned that in my first post.