'Can I Go to the Wedding?' Answered

If you're Catholic, you're probably aware that not every wedding is the same in the eyes of the Church. You may have heard of situations—or been in ones yourself—where you're not sure if it's okay for you, as a practicing Catholic, to attend such a wedding. How do you know when it's okay and when it's not okay?

Fr. Mike not only gives us a couple of guiding principles but also breaks down most of the situations you might find yourself in and tells us what Jesus and his Church asks of us.

00:00 Can I go to the wedding? Or not?
00:27 If you can't go to the wedding
01:50 Christ vs. Culture
02:23 A Catholic Wedding in a Catholic Church?
02:33 A Catholic Wedding in a Non-Catholic Setting
03:09 A Non-Catholic Wedding?
03:25 Catholic Marriage Outside the Church? (Non-Canonical Wedding)
05:25 Remarriage After Divorce Without Annulment?
06:50 Same-Sex Marriage?
07:20 What am I supposed to do now?

March 1 - North Charleston, SC
May 19 - Washington, D.C.
May 20 - Philadelphia, PA
May 21 - Cincinnati, OH [SOLD OUT]
May 22 - Nashville, TN

Join Fr. Mike live for an unforgettable event as he unpacks the parables of Jesus. This is your chance to experience his powerful message in person! 🙏

❓ Have ideas for future videos ❓ Topics you want to hear about ❓ Questions you want answered ❓ Make sure to put #AskAscension in your comment 👍

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[pinkboxer]

Regarding the non canonical wedding: there absolutely is hope. This was my husband and I when we first got married. I was catholic, he was not, so it was my fault. I had fallen away from the church at that time and didn't care. Fast forward 17 years, I was called back to my faith, and my husband and I got married in the church in a small ceremony. It's never too late to fix things.

[bailey_murrie]

My husband and I were married outside of the church. Over the last year we’ve been attending Catholic mass and started RCIA classes. I can’t wait for the day when him and I can be married in the church. Thank you Father Mike for helping bring us closer to God.

[haleydelpesce]

I am not Catholic, but I appreciate how you are able and willing to say the hard parts of the Bible out loud in such loving and straight forward way. So many people dance around the truth in the Bible, myself included sometimes; I find it incredibly encouraging to see your bravery and obedience to Christ as it draws me closer to His truth through you.

[michaelfrancis]

My wife and I were originally married outside of the church. I was baptized Catholic and she was baptized Methodist and we wanted to have our ceremony outside of a church. Fast forward 8 years later and I found my faith in the church. Our marriage was just convalidated in January! I am so thankful to God that now our marriage is valid and I am in communion with the church again!

[WCisBetterThanReforged]

Please pray for me and my wife. At a low point in my faith (the indifference Fr. Mike spoke of) I married outside the church. It was the best decision of my life. My protestant wife got me back to being on fire for Jesus which is great yet as that faith grew it also drew me back to Christ's church. She's opposed to being Catholic or raising our son as such. Please pray for God's grace and patience to bring her to the Catholoc faith.

[GiuseppeAnt]

As a new Catholic, this kind of clarity and single-mindedness is radically refreshing and encouraging. Thank you Fr. Mike for your guidance and devotion.

[mariaschulner]

Thank you Father. This needs to be preached in every catholic church.

[patriciaprieto]

I was raised a Catholic, both my parents are practicing catholic, they baptize, confirmed and completed the holy communion. Always praying to marry a catholic, meet him he was raised catholic, baptized but didn’t complete other sacraments..we were married by civil court, after many prayers from my mother and myself to convert him into practicing catholic and complete his sacraments 10 years later we were married in a Catholic Church it was most beautiful, blessing. Fast forward to today we are still practicing catholic and entering our 40 year anniversary. God is good 🙏 praying alway for marriages ❤️

[PadreAlan]

Thank you, Father Mike. This dealing with hard subjects is one of the things that is drawing me to Catholicism.

[JenniferMiller-sxxn]

It takes compassion and kindness to hold firm to your beliefs and keep some relationships.

[chriscarmeci]

Both my wife and I are Catholic, but many, many years ago we had a civil ceremony and my mother in law who was as extremely devout wouldn’t attend and I completely understood. My wife and I always planned on getting Married in church but at the time we just wanted to be married in the eyes of the law, 4 years later we did go to the church and got Married in church and my mother in law was so happy that she got drunk and she wasn’t a drinker. It also made our lives feel complete and looking back I wish I would have just gotten married in the church instead of civilly first then the church.

[marijo.]

I will be watching my daughter get married in a non catholic location. He's not a Catholic. And shes fallen away.
I'm praying every day that one day they will get their marriage blessed by the Church.

[DonnaMueller-zxvm]

I have been pained by this topic for years. My first husband left when I was 26 and we then divorced. I did have it annulled through the church. I was divorced for 20 years then met my current husband of 20 years. He is Lutheran and I have shared his church with him. The closer we have grown together, in our church and most importantly with God, the more painful this teaching is for us. I guess I am simply asking for prayers.

[MarcyBurke-jw]

I was blessed to meet and Catholic man at the ages of 19. We got married in the Catholic church 3 years later. This year we celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary 🎉❤

[_eemjee_]

i am just thankful to God for answering my prayer, for Him to personally choose my husband-to-be. He granted it after 5yrs of faithful praying. a Catholic, kind hearted man who loves me so dearly. We got married in Holy Family Parish Church and go to Mass as frequent as we can. Adoration at least 1hr/week. Last month we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and our priest offered us a blessing in Latin and Korean. (though we're filipinos ❤) Praise God.

[MrsZaboody]

This was a great video. My mom and dad were married in the Catholic church, and then divorced at the courthouse when I was 10. They did not get an annulment. Both of my parents have other serious partners and I know that if they wanted to remarry, I could not attend. It can be hard because I care about my parents, but I love God more.

[KnowLoveServeHim]

Thank you, Fr. Mike, for speaking clearly on what the church teaches about this! How difficult, but at the same time such a gift, the truth is!

[lyndanwaizu]

Because we follow after Jesus, there are some places we have to go, and because we are following Jesus, there are some places we cannot go

[jabelltulsa]

Very clear teaching. Thank you, Father, and thank you for being a priest.

[GMurph]

My wife and I were away from the church for many years before our marriage and after. We were married in Japan by the local magistrate and lived for 14 years this way, had children. Last Easter, we came back to the church and started the process for convalidation. Just before thanksgiving 2024 we were finally married in the church and our marriage and family has never been stronger.