I have a Catholic prayer book that is over one hundred pages long. In this book there is every imaginable prayer. Prayers you would expect, like prayers for healing, but also some you would not, like prayers for safety during bad weather. Catholics never seem to be at a loss for ready-made prayers. It is not […]
One evening, I was leaving a meeting at my parish, and was pulling out of my parking space, when I stopped dead in my tracks. I had just realized that I walked out of the church and forgot to make a visit to Jesus. In every Catholic Church around the world, Jesus, in the form […]
Mercy is experienced when God, who is love itself, loves us. It is a great form of love because it is given to us even though we don’t deserve it. We don’t need to do anything to earn God’s love. He pours it out to us freely. The greatest example of God’s mercy is when […]
Going through a divorce can feel like a battle. You are constantly having to muster the strength to go up against some very difficult situations. Often times it seems like it is you against the world. It can be a very lonely and discouraging time. Stand strong! Our faith teaches that we are not alone […]
Marriages are supposed to be for life. That’s how God designed them. Divorce is an obvious sign that something went seriously wrong with that plan. Most divorces don’t happen overnight. It is usually the result of a cumulative series of events. If you are totally honest with yourself, you can see what role you played […]
I remember how anxious and worried I would be over each new crisis that erupted during my divorce. After the storm passed, I would feel relieved. I would believe I had dealt with the last major problem and calm seas would now prevail. Wrong. No matter how many times I went through the same cycle, […]
“This is the third time this month you have been late picking up the kids. You are going to have to figure out a way to be more on time,” I said coldly. My former spouse just looked at me with a mixture of embarrassment and exhaustion. After the kids were gone and the house […]
When I was a kid, my parents would allow me to ride my bike two miles to a nearby river where I liked to fish. One day, I decided to take a shortcut that a friend had told me about. The further I went down my new path, the more anxious I became. The river […]
One of the most common reactions to divorce is fear. That is very understandable. Who wouldn’t be scared if their entire life came crashing in around them? The problem with fear is not being scared, that’s normal. The problem is acting on fear. That’s when fear becomes a lousy strategy. Here is a better strategy: hope. Hope is not about […]
Recently, I was speaking to a group on the virtue of chastity. A highly charged topic, for sure. One woman raised her hand and offered that what she was most afraid of was being alone the rest of her life. She felt she was in a Catch-22 of sorts. She was afraid that if she committed to […]