For some time now I’ve thought that weddings ought to occur at the beginning of a regular parish Sunday Eucharist, in the same way baptisms are conducted at many parishes. That would send the message that the wedding is a community event, not a private party. In some RC parishes, some weddings apparently are being celebrated at Sunday Mass because of a shortage of priests:
An alternate solution, which is being tried in various parishes across the country, is to celebrate Christian marriage during Sunday Mass. At first this may seem a totally unacceptable solution. When we give this solution a second thought, however, we find that it contains many positive elements.
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… [T]he exchange of consent between the bride and groom .… is of a different order than all the other rituals which take place on the wedding day. This ritual is a sacrament. It has effects for the whole Church, especially the assembled parish community.
In parishes where this exchange of consent takes place in the presence of the Sunday community, the sacramental dimension of the marriage is more easily seen and appreciated. What the couple says to each other is not for themselves alone. Their promise speaks to all of us: It tells us who God is for us.
Of course, I’m under absolutely no illusion that my own teen-aged daughter will feel that way when the time comes 🙂
(Hat tip to TitusOneNine)
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