November 16, 2008

Paperwork {check!}

Yesterday morning Mike and I drove downtown to our meeting with Uncle Fr. Bart. We needed to complete our paperwork. And there is a LOT when you get married in the Catholic church. It took an hour just to fill it all out! Fr. Bart also interviewed us separately under oath. I got a little nervous at first...but the questions were simple "Do you promise not to withhold children from Michael?" "Do you promise never to get a divorce?", etc...We obviously passed with flying colors! Now the only thing missing from the paperwork is the affidavit from Mike's parents. Fr. Bart will ask Mike's parents a list of questions under oath and as long as things go well...He will then take the paperwork downtown to get approved. And then we can finally say we are DEFINITELY getting married! I'm not sure what kinds of questions he will be asking Mike's parents..but they will pertain to Mike. For example: Has he ever been married before? Do they approve of this marriage? Under their knowledge are we following the rule of not sleeping together?, etc. I'm not nervous about this because Mike's parents cannot wait for us to get married! And it's really excited to know that everything will be 'legal' in just a few weeks!

We thought we were going to have to take a FOCCUS test. However, Fr. Bart explained to us that is not necessary and his church doesn't do it. He also mentioned he thinks it is silly. From the numerous meetings we have held with him and the Pre-Cana we have already done-he has no doubt that we should be married. This made me so happy! But in a way I was a little bummed not to take it. I wanted to see our answers..just for fun. That's ok though...knowing that he has our full blessing is enough for me!

Fr. Bart also gave us a packet of readings to look though. We have to choose 4 different readings.
A. Readings from the Hebrew Scriptures
B. Responsorial Psalms
C. Readings from the New Testament
D. Readings from the Gospel

I had fun last night reading all the readings. And I think I might have them all chosen already! But I will save that for another post!

Going to meet with Fr. Bart is so exciting for me. We get to drive downtown Chicago..which is always a fun experience for us. And we get to talk about our wedding. Going to see him makes everything so much more real, for this is the most important part of our wedding. Not the centerpieces, my dress, or the flowers. It is our ceremony and our exchange of vows is what is the most important. And meeting with Fr. Bart brings us closer and closer to our wedding day!

4 comments:

Krista said...

Okay, so I have what may be a dumb question. You had to swear that you're not sleeping together ... but you live in the same house. What's the difference?

Krista said...

Okay, re-reading that question, it looks even more dumb that I meant. I know the difference :) ... What I meant to ask: does that mean you abstain until you're married even though you live in the same house?

Mrs. B said...

Krista-You're funny! Read this post..
http://yennysworld.blogspot.com/2008/08/he-said-yes.html
I think you will understand better!
But yes, he is allowing us to live together as long as we abstain from sleeping in the same room (or together). You have to make sacrifices when you want to get married Catholic...!

Krista said...

It all makes sense ... but as you'll see, I commented on that post, and still have questions!