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Question
Hi
I will be getting married real soon and I have some concerns about our situation as far as being a Catholic. We were both married once to different people. I was married by a minister and he was married by a priest in a Catholic Church. I was divorced in 2000 and he had a divorce 4 years after they married in 1986 but never filed for an annulment. He is now going thru the process of his annulment so that we can marry in church but we decided to get married now thru a minister and remarry in church when his annulment is completed.
My fiance is an active choir ministry in his church now. My concern is, will he still be able to serve as a music ministry after we marry outside the catholic church? And also, can we still attend the weekly mass? What are the rules when it comes to people in our current situation?
I need your expert advice!
Hi, Maria:
Sounds like you all need to go and present your situation to your local Priest, as it seems like you are certainly quite involved in that Parish Community through some kind of musical presentation.
The rule when it comes to people in your current situation is HUMILITY, and to seek the Truth of Jesus Christ in the authentic teachings of His Holy Catholic Church.
You're both in very complicated situations, because your own personal situations created "rules & regulations" that were not foreseen somehow by the plain, simple, and straightforward speaking of marriage vows in the past that ended up not being kept...for whatever reason.
Why do you keep going to "ministers" for your marriage?
You need to seriously look at that...
You and he do not even know whether he will end up getting an anullment, at this point.
So, like I said at beginning - present the complicated situation, and personal "rules & regulations" of chaos that you have created for yourselves, so that the Church can help you straighten it out; but quite frankly, it strikes me that you do not even care what the Church teaches or counsels, and you will just keep going off doing your OWN thing, instead of seeking to do GOD's Will in your life.
This is what keeps causing the complication and chaos in your life, so lay it aside, and pray for HUMILITY, and ask God to form you into the person He created you to be: to love know and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with him in the next.
Fr. Timothy Johnson
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Answers by Expert:
Fr. Timothy Johnson
Expertise
A Traditional Catholic Priest, validly and licitly ordained, incardinated legally and canonically in the Diocese of Fargo, and in good-standing with my Local Ordinary (Bishop) on active assignment at a rural Tri-Parish. I can provide honest and balanced answers to questions on topics pertaining to Traditional Roman Catholicism of the Latin Church (Councils of Trent and Vatican II)and a lot about the Eastern Catholic Churches, including the Sacred Liturgy, Sacred Scripture, Church History, the use of the Latin language, the tradition of Sacred Music, and current events in the Catholic Church from a traditional, historical and balanced perspective.
Experience
I have been ordained a Roman Catholic Priest since June 2001.
Organizations
Knights of Columbus; Church Music Association of America (CMAA)
Education/Credentials
Ordained Priest, 02 JUN 2001; Ordained Deacon, 27 JAN 2001; MA - Dogmatic/Systematic Theology;
MDiv - Professional Degree from Seminary;
2-Years formation with Canons Regular of Premontre including studies and experience in Sacred Liturgy, Chant, Latin, Sacraments, Spirituality.
BA - Scholastic/Thomistic Philosophy;
BA - Liberal Arts;
AA - General Studies.
Past/Present Clients
I serve 3-small, rural Parish Communities in Easter North Dakota
I converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1981, at the age of 15.
Over the years I have done work as an organist, cantor, and choir director for the Latin Rite (English & Latin) Mass (Liturgy of the Eucharist), and even for the Hours of the Divine Office.
I have worked as a cantor for a Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church.
Presently my pastoral and administrative duties as a Catholic Priest do not allow me as much time as I used to have to devote to Sacred Music; but for my weekend Masses and Solemnities within my Tri-Parish, I offer High Sung Mass in English. Weekday Mass is typically Low Mass (recited Mass) in English, though on occasion I will offer the "Tridentine Mass" in Latin, which I usually offer on my "Day Off", as well. And now, in light of the "Motu Proprio" by his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI placing the extraordinary usage of the Roman Rite back into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, I have been offering a regularly scheduled SUN, 2:00 PM Tridentine Latin Mass with a community of the faithful that has a stable existence.
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