My Experience

In addition to my above experience, here is some of my other experiences with guiding divorced Catholics:

• I founded a parish-based ministry to provide spiritual, educational, and social activities for divorced or separated Catholics.
• I co-created the Journey of Hope divorce recovery program for Catholics that has helped thousands in the United States and Canada.
• I produced the DVD, Voices of Hope – Testimonies of Healing, used extensively in the Journey of Hope program.
• I have co-created the Internet radio program for divorced Catholics, Journey of Hope Radio.
• I have been interviewed on EWTN television and several radio programs.

Me with Johnnette Benkovic on EWTN’s Women of Grace television program

• I have presented at various conferences for divorced Catholics around the United States, most recently The Theology of the Body Conference and The Catholic Divorced Ministry Conference.
• I have worked extensively with dioceses and parishes throughout the United States and Canada to establish and run successful ministries for divorced Catholics.
• I have developed and facilitated a variety of workshops, including: The Essential Keys to Recovering from Divorce, Handling the Holidays, Dating and Intimacy as a Divorced Catholic, and Raising Your Kids Catholic After Divorce.

My Content

For years I have been guiding divorced Catholics by helping them more fully learn and live their faith. I do this by sharing what I have learned on my own journey back from divorce. My mission is to help other Catholics make a smoother recovery from divorce and experience a quicker journey to the abundant life Christ promised all of us (John 10:10).

To that end, most of the things I write about include: recovering from divorce, single parenting, dating and relationships, and the Catholic faith. I also write about topics related to remarriage and step-parenting, as I also have extensive experience with both. You can find out more on my Start Here page.

My goal is to create inspirational and practical content that you can use to deal with the daily realities and challenges of divorce. I hope to help you understand that our Catholic faith is so wise and so true and has all the answers you are looking for. I want to help you make forward progress everyday on your road to healing and a life of abundant peace and joy.

The Daily Inspirations are sent out Monday through Friday. I also post other articles two to three times a week. To make sure you don’t miss my newest posts, you can subscribe via email. It’s quick, easy, and you can unsubscribed at any time.

My Journey

I am a life-long Catholic who has experienced the pain and hardship of divorce—twice. I have stumbled along in the darkness after divorce, and I am pretty sure I have made just about every mistake in the book. I think the person that came up with the saying “Been there, done that.” was referring to me! Only by God’s unending grace have I been able to learn from these mistakes and, in doing so, have come to claim the abundant life He promises.

I went through an extremely difficult and painful divorce in 2000. At that time, I had three small children, ages eight, six, and three. Once the storm clouds passed, I found myself divorced and a full-time, single-parent. While I thought the worst was over, life after divorce ushered in a whole new set of challenges.

November 2001. Taken about two months after my divorce was final.

I grappled with meeting the demands of being a single-parent, working full-time, and trying to figure out what it meant to be divorced and Catholic. There were no Catholic-based divorce support programs, websites, blogs, books, or workshops; I was on my own. After a year or so of flailing around, I began to search for answers in my Catholic faith.

Over the next three years, and after much intense searching, I came to realize that the Catholic faith is the source of all wisdom and truth. The more I dug, the more I discovered that it contained all the answers I was looking for. The more I lived it, the more peace and joy returned to my life.

It was then that I felt a calling to help other divorced Catholics by sharing what I had learned. I started a ministry at my parish that was designed to provide spiritual, educational, and social activities to divorced Catholics. It was a huge success. Through that ministry I was able to teach many Catholics in my community what I learned and help them recover from divorce by living their Catholic faith more deeply.

From that experience, I felt God calling me to help as many Catholics as I could. In addition to the blog, books, and websites, I have made television appearances on EWTN, interviews on radio, and worked with many dioceses and parishes throughout the United States and Canada. I continue to work zealously to help as many divorced Catholics as possible.

My Family

Today, I am married to the most amazing, faith-filled woman, Monica. Together, we have seven children. That’s right—SEVEN! On a beautiful, crisp December afternoon in 2007, in a small Catholic church in Upstate New York, me and my three girls blended families with Monica and her two girls and one boy. (Both Monica and I received annulments to our previous marriages.) Less than two years later, God blessed us with an amazing little boy of our own. In the pain and darkness of my divorce, I could never have imagined the abundant life God had planned for me. I am living proof that God keeps His promises!

Working With Me

I can come to your diocese, parish, or event to speak or facilitate one of my workshops. Please see my Speaking page for more details.

My Contact Information

You can contact me via email or follow me on Twitter or Facebook.