Why marry in the Catholic Chuch?

[Annabelle_Marie]

Your friend may be a former Catholic but does they understand what the Church requires? Cause I didn’t–and NO ONE told me!—Sadly…

My answer would be because when I make those vows to God… I want to be in His House!

 

[why_me]

What does it mean to be a former catholic? I say this because if she has resigned from the church, it may be difficult to get a church wedding. However, if she is not just going to church, I would stress the beauty of a church wedding and the memory involved. She may be open to this logic. Also, the photos will be truly amazing inside the church.

Sometimes secular reasoning helps in this kind of situation. But, you do know the person and can give the best advice. Good luck.

 

[ExDeoVita]

Hi,

Looking for advice…

Do you have any suggestions as to how I could respond to a friend, a former Catholic, who says “Why marry in the Church instead of by a Justice of the Peace?”

I know there is the argument of sacramental graces that come with marriage in the Church but for someone who has not been involved in the Church for some time, this may not have much weight to it.

How would I answer this in a way that makes sense to someone living in the world? Any analogies I could use?

Thanks!

For the most part, couples are prepared for marriage when they go through the Church. Discussing issues / being asked questions that they would not otherwise have brought up themselves until it was too late.

Thus, having issues brought to the surface by ones Priest before a life-long commitment is made is in-valuable to a couple discerning marriage. Unless they are really plugged in to good resources, they may not even know of the questions they should be asking themselves and each other.

ie: cohabitation, pre-maiatle sex, and atricifial birth control, are usually issues that couples think have no impact in the strength of their marriage.

I think you’ll find when you begin researching divorce statistics - that the reasons couples break up are generally hidden from the other spouse / not known beforehand. And since they had nobody asking the ‘hard’ but necessary question, their marriage ended in disaster.

A book that may be good is: How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk, by DR. VAN EPP. It approaches these issues form a ‘secular’ standpoint, yet arrives at the same outcome as does our Holy Mother Church.