WEEK 55 AS PASTOR OF OLOL AND THE FIRST WEDDING SINCE I ARRIVED HERE...........

In the one year and three weeks I have been the 6th Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Sacramento/Del Paso Heights/Rio Linda/Elverta/Robla/, only today- nearly a month into my second year, was there a Nuptial Mass, a Tongan Wedding.  The Catholic Bride and Methodist  Groom, are in the United States Military, and are residing and assigned in the Bay Area.  Her parents and family are parishioners here at OLOL, thus the site of the wedding.  But the password of this marriage preparation period, occurring during my first year observation of what the parish does ministerially; is Lessons Learned.  Lessons for the prospective bride and groom, beginning with scheduling a Wedding in OLOL Church involves much more than telephoning the parish office and declaring a wedding date, without ever meeting with the parish priests.  The Diocese of Sacramento and the Parish have a 6 month Marriagec Preparation period, during which completion of a Sacrament of Marriage Instructions course, is to be taken by the Engaged couple; all paperwork required is filled out and if necessary, processed and finalized by, the appropriate diocesan Tribunal officials; and the Marriage License and Church Wedding Offering, are submitted at least a week before the Wedding.  This was the 152nd Wedding I have officiated at as a deacon and priest.  Father Pius concelebrated the Nuptial Mass with me, which was very helpful considering the ornate mats, the Tongan decorations include, which my wheelchair would have found very difficult to navigate.  Weddings are notorious for running late in getting underway.  Today's wedding was no exception; actually it was the second latest starting nuptials of the one hundred and fifty two sacramental  celebrations of Marriage, I have led, forty six minutes after the scheduled hour.  As the summer proceeds, I am finetuning and confirming the pastoral and sacramental practices OLOL will follow during my pastorate - for Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals, Christian Initiation, which will be promulgated in its fullness with the start of the new Parish Year, in September.  In the meantime, these occasions will be teachable moments for parishioners participating in them.  No other weddings are as yet scheduled on the OLOL Parish Calendar.  I apply the 6 month Marriage Preparation to the day, so the next Parish Wedding will be scheduled or January 23, 2012, or thereafter..........A Wedding Is But A Day; A Marriage Lasts A Lifetime !...........Fr.  Troy