Pre-Marriage Pains - Latest Update!!!

Yes, I do understand that marriage is a very sacred sacrament in the life of a Roman Catholic.
For me personally, it is the the most important spiritual milestone in one's life. But what really pisses me off is the amount of over-heads that the church has brought in. I might be wrong and may be these so-called steps must have been present since a long time. May be my Mom and Dad also had to go through them, but then, we need flexibility, dont we?

Take my case for example. I made a infrequent visit to my parish priest sometime back. Armed with the marriage course certificate(that Lourdes and I had taken together), baptism certificate and other church related stuff I calmly walked in to meet the priest.

I told him, that because I will be arriving just 4 weeks before my wedding, I would appreciate if he can start processing my case right away. With a cold-blooded look on his face he replies, "You will have to come to sign the document!". "What?" I screamt in my head. Does he think US is like next station or something. That I can come over to sign some document. Confused, I asked him again, "Can I sign this document in December?". "No", came a prompt reply with no hint of help whatsoever.

I mean, lets look it at from my perspective. I have a valid baptism certificate. A valid confirmation certificate. I have a valid marriage course certificate. Hell, I could have even produced a certificate that Lourdes and I have been courting each other for more than 5 years. So, who is he to obstruct me now. So instead of helping me, all he can think of is planning an impromptu trip to India for me, just to sign a document. That too, in the internet age, where everything is faxed, signed and scanned.

Doesnt 'Catholic' mean Universal? If so, then can I sign the document here (in California), at the parish where I currently am a member of?

It pains me to see that instead of helping, people will add more obstructions and unnecessary decrees to a process that can be streamlined and have its exceptions in place so as to handle various scenarios. And here I dont consider the parish priest as people, he is family. A very important member of my spiritual family. Can't he not understand that I have a limitation and it's not really possible to sign that document before December 2008.

For example, what if a person who is a shippy wants to get married. He comes home only once in 9 months. So does he need to leave his ship and swim back home to get this document signed.

'Change'- We can Believe In. Yes, thats what the church needs to look at. Lets be a little more flexible. More understanding and considerate towards our brothers and sisters.

The latest is that, the parish priest has changed at my place. My Mom is going to visit the priest on saturday. Lets see, what happens. Meanwhile, Lourdes has been told that her NOC certificate will take more than a week to arrive. Wonder if the church has a FBI like database where they will match the names to check for defaulters.

Whatever it is, God please save me!!!

Hoping the church does not compound me with more wedding planning headache. I have my hands full already. :)

Update:
My Mom did visit the parish and it so happens that the new parish priest is a bigger pain than the earlier one. He was rude and not ready to help one bit. Makes me wonder is that what Christianity/Roman Catholic all about. I'd rather move on rather than be a part of this community. Believe me, that priest is lucky, if I was sitting across the table, there sure would have
been a heated argument.

Lets see whats in store.

Next Update:

So finally Lourdes got her NOC from her Irla parish. I got my NOC from my Orange county parish. So the next step was to go the St.Anthony's Church, Malad and book for the wedding mass. Lourdes and her Mom reached there today, with the NOC saying that the Irla Parish has no objection in the mass being held at the St.Anthony's church. But is so happens that this church now has a freaking problem. The priest, like all his other brothers does not believe in helping and understanding problems. He fails to understand that travelling from Irla to Malad is not possible in 1 hours time. So if we have the mass at Irla, as this &^&**$%$ priest says then we reach for the reception at 8 PM. This, hoping the traffic is bad and not horrible. I mean, it baffles me, how disconnected the entire church system is. One church X says Ok, you can have the mass at church Y. Church Y says, i dont care about church X, i will not allow you to get married in church Y. WTF is this?

Dear Priests,
You think this is some kind of a joke. Lourdes is running about from Irla to Malad and back to Irla, just because you smart folks are dumb enough to understand a simple protocol between yourselves. She is alone, I am not around and poor thing had enough of headache already. And what I supposed was the easiest of tasks, getting a mass booked is turning out to be the worst hassel of all.

You wonder why people leave the church, this is the reason. Your egoistic attitude and self-belief that you are the ONE makes you turn people away from your doorstep, instead of helping them and understanding their problem.

Once the mass is booked and everything is settled, which I hope is posssible, I will personally make it a point to meet both the priests. My parish and this priest from St.Anthony's. I will make myself clear, if needed even show you my blog and how frustrated you so-called 'God's Servants' made me feel. For once, do you even think, that what you do is service for the Almighty. There should be no reason why I cannot get married at a particular church. You needed a NOC, i got that, now what? Why tell Lourdes you cannot have it? Whats the reason? Ego, supersmart, pain in your ass?

My idea is simple, if I believe in one christ, all churches are the same and I should have the privilege to get married anywhere on this planet, as long as I am not previously married to someone else. That prickly priest in Malwani cares nothing about me or Lourdes, he is just satisfying his ego by putting across a point of how important he is and that I need him at this moment.

FU!

Cheers,
Ashley