Looks like she won the lottery. Superstar.
Pope Francis "recounted his encounter
with a man engaged to be married
who was looking for a church that would
complement his fiancée’s dress
and would not be far from a restaurant."
"Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God."
This week Pope Francis stated, “the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null...” The statement was revised for the transcript, with the Holy Father's approval of course, and reads, “a portion of our sacramental marriages are null.” A 'portion' - or perhaps 'many' as Our Lady said in 1917.
The comment was once again taken out of context.
The initial comments had come as the Pope was addressing the Diocese of Rome’s pastoral congress. After his initial scripted remarks, he held a question-and-answer session.
A layman asked about the “crisis of marriage” and how Catholics can help educate youth in love, help them learn about sacramental marriage, and help them overcome “their resistance, delusions and fears.”
The Pope answered from his own experience. - CNA
An experience perhaps quite foreign to many readers, expressed in ordinary language, in a casual question and answer circumstance. He shared anecdotes to illustrate what he meant - unexpected stories to demonstrate the significance and permanence of sacramental marriage.
It works for me - but I grew up in an Italian neighborhood with second generation children of immigrants, where old timers spoke like that. I think the 'ordinary people of the streets' understand this pope.
I love Pope Francis.
“Do you have any idea how many times
I’ve had to watch Funny Lady?”
Works for me too,Terry. I have never walked down the aisle but I have many family members who have. Big celebrations, Church weddings, etc. Then they decide to do birth control, tie their tubes, vasectomies. Are those valid sacramental marriages?
ReplyDeleteNot according to Church teaching. I remember chewing one cousin out at the wedding party when I overheard the bride saying she was only planning to have two kids and then go on birth control after that. I burst out to our cousin, "Wah??? How can you even go there? I mean did they not just stand before God and promise among many things to be open to life? Now, you are married and go back on your word?" All I got was dead silence.
So yeah, I get it ... too bad so many are up in arms over this though but it must have struck a nerve somewhere. Anyway, Viva il Papa!
Here's some wonderful news after a shabby week of sad/terrible news:
Priests in Rome get a surprise visit from Pope Francis
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/priests-in-rome-get-a-surprise-visit-from-pope-francis-82102/
In the picture, they all look so happy together sharing a good chuckle it would seem.
Once again I am reminded to go about my work, to rejoice in hope, to endure in affliction and to persevere in prayer.
Praised be Jesus!
I saw that about the surprise visit! Isn't that cool?
DeleteI love this pope so much.
Having some personal experience here I can certainly attest to the fact that many marriages are indeed, not properly sacramental. I see a lot of good-willed people online who are trying to do damage control, and one of the things I read was that "not all difficult situations are irreparable", which is of course, duh, but it got me thinking about my own situation. If my ex had not been so 100% unwilling to even consider repairing things, we'd have dragged on what turned out to be an invalid marriage for a much longer time. As it is, God had more in store for me, and I am getting married this November to a wonderful, sweet bride.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know where I'm going with this, haha. I guess what I'm wondering is that while of course God can make any broken marriage whole. At the same time, what good does it do to keep trying if a marriage is indeed invalid? After what happened to me happened, and I talked to priest after priest - orthodox guys, some bordering on trad - and they all "called it", saying that while I had an obligation to await the decision of the tribunal, it did sound like mine was an open and shut case. And it was.
Another thing this makes me wonder is this - How valid (for lack of a better word) do we really believe most marriages in history were? So many people got married for political reasons, so many men were abusive and unfaithful and had no intention to ever not be, etc. I think of all those female saints who had husbands that physically and verbally abused them from the get-go, yet they stayed in those marriages and prayed for their conversion. This is obviously (and thankfully) not remotely close to what any priest would advise today.
You always raise the best questions. I too wonder how many historical marriages would have been valid - by today's standards?
DeleteThese discussions are one more reason I could never be married.
And by the way, it is *insane* how little marriage prep most people get. In the US it's getting better, but in Europe for example, it could be a single half-day retreat with some lukewarm therapeutic theology (we had to make a felt collage of our "story"), with no encouragement to frequent the sacraments in the run-up to the wedding, or to meet regularly with a priest.
ReplyDeleteA young lady in my parish just posted her engagement notice in the local paper. It announces that she will be married in a tropical location. I realize there are Catholic churches in tropical locations but I keep thinking she is getting married on the beach. Should I ask her where her wedding is taking place? I would hope her parents would have indicated to her that as a Catholic she must marry in the Church if she hopes to keep receiving the Sacraments. Is it even my business????
ReplyDelete