Getting Married the Catholic Way

Ya'll know that I am Catholic.  And, if you don't know, you haven't been paying attention!  So...pay attention!

Kim is not Catholic.  But, people seem to like her anyway.  She tags along to church with me once in a while, chats up the other folks at Desmond's school...plus, there's the fact that Fr. Jack seems to love her!  Gives her an extra special blessing when she walks up, arms folded, for Communion.

(For you heathens out there, if you are not a Catholic who has received their First Communion, you are not supposed to accept the Eucharist.  However, you may go up with your arms folded across your chest and the minister, who is not always the priest, will give you a special blessing.  It is usually little more than "The Blessing of Christ," while they touch your shoulder.  But, Fr. Jack typically stops and gives much more to Kim when she goes up.  It's all part of the master scheme to get her to convert.  But don't tell Kim that!)

Anywho...Kim has agreed to go through the Catholic Marriage procedures with me.  Marriage, to the Church, is a sacrament.  A sacrament equal to baptism, communion, penance, etc, etc, etc.  And, like all other sacraments, it requires some pre-work and some learning.

Part of the process is this test called the FOCCUS test.  What does FOCCUS stand for, you ask?  I have no idea.  But, it's basically a bunch of Agree or Disagree questions.

I love to spend money recklessly.  Agree or Disagree?
I think dogs are stinky and have no place in the home.  Agree or Disagree?
I think the finale of LOST was a-ok.  Agree or Disagree?

Then, you get together in a room, as a couple, with an adorable older couple to go over the answers.

What we learned is this: we're an amazing couple!

Anything that was brought up to be discusses was not a surprise and has already been worked through since the time we took the test.  For example...Money!  Kim is a saver.  I am a spender.  This is why we've decided that Kim is in charge of the money!  Sounds good to me!  I'll make a bazillion dollars and she'll make sure I don't spend it all in one place.

Next...I'm Catholic.  She's not.  Duh! 

That's really about it.  Oh...except that one question that said something to the effect of "I worry about my safety when I am around my future spouse."  Apparently Kim said Yes to this.  No, really.  So, we're great except for all that domestic violence in our house.  Kim claims this must have been an accident on her part or a misreading of the question.  I informed her we would cover this later!  Once I sobered up!

Moving on...we're on track to have a marriage fully recognized by the church.  In fact, since we're doing a non-Catholic wedding in Maui, first...we're being given the option to have our sacramental wedding happen during a mass, much like a baptism. 

I LOVE this idea.  I mean, if it is truly supposed to be something involving the community, what better way to make it a true community sacrament? 

So, the official Catholic wedding date isn't picked, yet.  Probably sometime in July.  Desmond is taking a vacation with his mom when we get back from Maui.  We will wait for him to get back.  But, the wheels are in motion! 

That's really all I have to say about that.

________

Update from when I actually drafted this.  The Catholic wedding is officially scheduled for Aug 1!  As it's just part of the Saturday mass that day, feel free to come, if you want. :-)